http://facthai.wordpress.com/2007/06/22/chula-attacks-dr-giles-ji-ungpakorn-over-anti-coup-book/
Chula attacks Dr. Giles Ji Ungpakorn over anti-coup book
Chulalongkorn University authorities are attempting to victimise the anti-military junta academic, Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn.
Earlier this year Chulalongkorn University authorities ordered the university bookshop to refuse to sell Professor Ungpakorn’s book “A Coup for the Rich”. The book, by the Political Science Professor, criticised the military coup and the destruction of democracy in Thailand. Professor Ungpakorn made repeated attempts to obtain an explanation from the university authorities about why they banned the sale of this book. Up to this day the university has never provided Professor Ungpakorn with any written explanation. The book is, however, on sale at Thammasart University bookshop. This act of censorship, lead to Professor Ungpakorn’s complaint to the National Human Rights Commission that Chulalongkorn authorities had stifled academic freedom. The Commision is currently looking into the case. It should be noted that many of the Chulalongkorn university’s officials, including the Rector and various Faculty Deans and academics are collaborating with the junta and supporting the coup. Academics have been appointed to junta bodies, including the unelected parliament.
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THIS NEWS INDIRECTLY REMINDS ME OF SOME FILMS, THOUGH THE STORIES OF THESE FILMS MAY HAVE NOTHING SIMILAR TO THE CASE ABOVE. FILMS THAT COME INTO MY MIND AFTER READING THIS NEWS ARE:
1.VERA ROMEYKE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE (Vera Romeyke ist nicht tragbar) (1976, Max Willutzki, West Germany) 104 min
Disagreements over the teaching methods of a politically active teacher end in her being transferred. Starring Rita Engelmann.
(I haven’t seen this film yet, but I like its plot very much.)
2.SLOGANS (2001, Gjergj Xhuvani, Albania)
Synopsis from imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287708/plotsummary
“Andre starts as a teacher in a remote mountain village in Albania. His first task is to choose one of two communist slogans. He picks the shorter one, which is appreciated by his class, because they have to build the slogan on the hillside using whitewashed rocks. However, this means that the longer slogan goes to Diana, the French teacher to whom Andre is attracted. Andre gets on the wrong side of the communist party boss of the village, when he stands up for an unjustly accused goat herdsman, whom he had befriended. The boss is determined to take his revenge on Andre. Written by Will Gilbert”
(I haven’t seen this film yet, but I like its plot very much.)
3.CALM PREVAILS ALL OVER THE COUNTRY (1975, Peter Lilienthal, West Germany, A+)
Synopsis from
http://www.german-films.de/app/filmarchive/film_view.php?film_id=1283
"The provincial capital of an unidentified South American country. A typewriter mechanic stops at a small hotel run by an old man. He has come to visit his daughter in the nearby prison. A group of young people who recently arrived at the town's airport are just being taken to the prison. Their transport is shrouded in greatest secrecy, but the news quickly leaks out. The young doctor Cecilia and a few friends try to persuade the governor to agree to a medical examination of the prisoners, for they assume that the prisoners were tortured before being charged. However, the governor refuses their request in view of the unstable political situation.
The committee which is then set up collects donations of clothing and food for the prisoners and also visits them regularly. A weapon is smuggled into the prison during a performance in the prison yard. The guards are overpowered, but only a few of the prisoners manage to escape. The others remain behind and demand a medical examination to reveal signs of torture as well as their transfer to another prison not run by the military in return for the release of the guards they hold hostage. The report on the hostages is interrupted by representatives of the army encircling the prison yard. The head of the government imposes a state of emergency and orders the army to take appropriate measures to restore order in the country.
Fear and unrest spread throughout the country following the wave of arrests and the disappearance of members of the opposition. The prisoners holding the guards hostage are shot by snipers, officially while trying to escape, and the funeral procession for one of the victims is dispersed by force. Mass arrests follow and the economy suffers a severe slump. One after another, the hotel's residents are arrested and taken away to a huge football stadium. The old grandfather is the only one to remain behind in the hotel. He packs food and clothes and sets off to the stadium where he insults the guards outside the gate until they arrest him and lead him inside the stadium."
4.SOPHIE SCHOLL – THE FINAL DAYS (2005, Marc Rothemund, A+)
5.THE TRIAL (1993, David Hugh Jones, B)
From Franz Kafka novel, screenplay by Harold Pinter
Synopsis from imdb.com
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108388/
“Joseph K. awakes one morning, to find two strange men in his room, telling him he has been arrested. Joseph is not told what he is charged with, and despite being "arrested," is allowed to remain free and go to work. But despite the strange nature of his arrest, Joseph soon learns that his trial, however odd, is very real, and tries desperately to spare himself from the court's judgement. Written by Mike Myers”
I posted FILM AND REAL LIFE 1 in the link below:
http://celinejulie.blogspot.com/2007/06/ye-thamma-2007-wattana-rujirojsakul.html
A photo of GILES UNGPAKORN from http://www.prachatai.com/
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