Harry Nicolaides

Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting Thailand’s royal family in a novel — “a rare conviction of a foreigner amid a crackdown on people and Web sites deemed critical of the monarchy,” according to an Associated Press wire story. To add insult to injury, the book in question, Verisimilitude, sold a grand total of seven copies. According to the AP report, “The offending passage in Mr. Nicolaides’ novel was just a few sentences long and described the turbulent marital relations of its fictional prince,” but it was judged to break Thailands “lese majeste” law for “whoever defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or the Regent.” The “tearful” and shackled 41-year-old Melbourne man — who hasn’t lived in Thailand since 2005, and was picked up in the Bankok airport while passing through, apparently unaware of the charges against him — told reporters, “This can’t be real. It feels like a bad dream.” The report adds, “He said he endured “unspeakable suffering” during his pretrial detention, but did not elaborate,” as he was led away.

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.