Pardoned author back after Thai ordeal

An Australian author jailed for nearly six months for criticising Thailand's royal family is happy to be home, but angry at his ordeal.
Harry Nicolaides, 41, on Saturday touched down in Melbourne after being granted a royal pardon from Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

"I am angry, I am frustrated, I am perplexed," Mr Nicolaides said.
With tears streaming down his face he hugged his partner, Jintana Suttanu, his
father Socrates, brother Forde, and other family members.
"I learned only a few minutes before boarding my flight that my mother had suffered
a stroke," Mr Nicolaides said.
"A few hours before then, I was informed I had a royal pardon and asked to kneel
before a portrait of the king, a royal audience of sorts, and be informed that I had
been pardoned.
"A few hours before that I was climbing out of a sewerage tank that I fell into in
the prison," he said.
The Australian was first sentenced to six years' jail for the crime of lese-majeste,
criticising the Thai royal family. That term was halved to three years in
recognition of his guilty plea.
He had written a book entitled Verisimilitude, which sold just seven copies, that
was a fictional account of life in Thailand.
Part of the book dealt with the sex life of an unnamed crown prince, and it was just
12 lines that caused his arrest and conviction.
Mr Nicolaides was grateful to be back on Australian soil, but said he was upset with
being imprisoned in a Thai jail.
"We enjoy rare privileges in this country," he said.
His lawyer Mark Dean, SC, said Mr Nicolaides was locked up as part of a ploy by the
former Thai government to appear tough on critics of the country's monarchy.
"I think it's fair to say that Harry was a political prisoner, and that the reason
for the commencement of this case against him were inextricably linked to the
political crisis in Thailand in August 2008," Mr Dean said.
"But since then, conditions have changed in Thailand, there has been a change of
government, and the current Thai government has done everything it can to support
Harry's case," he said.
Despite claims months ago that Australia's government had not done enough to support
his release, Mr Nicolaides praised the role of officials.
"I am happy with the Australian government's efforts. They had constraints that they
had to work within," he said.
He also thanked all those who had given him support.
"I would like to take the opportunity to thank the media for their efforts, for
their courageous efforts, to make this an ongoing concern for the Australian
government, and the Australian people and the hundreds of anonymous postcards and
letters that I have received," Mr Nicolaides said.
Harry's father Socrates Nicolaides said it was "terrific" to have his son back.
"It was a living death but now I feel I have come alive again," he said.
Forde Nicolaides, Harry's brother, said he thought the ordeal had been a factor that
caused his mother's stroke, which occurred two weeks ago.
"I think the stress of the delays of Harry's case certainly led to that and caused
her condition to deteriorate further," Forde Nicolaides said.
"Harry didn't know until last night when he called me ... We made that choice
because Harry was obviously suffering enough," he said.