<p>On 16 May, the House Committee on Foreign Affairs met to hear the case of Amphon Tangnoppakul, the l&egrave;se majest&eacute; convict who died from liver cancer during detention, and invited officials from several agencies including the Corrections Department, the Court of Justice and the National Human Rights Commission, as well as Amphon&rsquo;s lawyers and family members.</p>

<p>Four questions have been asked of the UK government by Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kerry McCarthy MP (Britsol East, Labour Party) regarding the death of political prisoner Ampon Tangnoppakul&nbsp; AKA Ah Kong and the on-going situation vis a vis the use of lese majeste laws in Thailand.</p>

<p>In the end, freedom is slower to arrive than death<br /> Justice can wait&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; can make way for a tranquil homeland<br /> They honeymooned on a day of love&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; a truce&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <br /> The war is not over yet&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; However many corpses, let it be!</p>

<p>The <a href="http://www.ccaa112.org/web/">Campaign Committee to Amend Article 112</a> (CCAA) has already collected over 10,000 signatures to propose the <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/2997">Nitirat bill</a> to Parliament to amend the l&egrave;se majest&eacute; law.</p>

<p>The death of lese majeste detainee Amphon &quot;Akong&quot; Tangnoppakul, also known as &quot;Uncle SMS&quot;, inside Bangkok Remand Prison Hospital on Monday has re-ignited hopes of amending the draconian lese majeste law.</p>

<p><a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/search/node/Amphon%20tangnoppakul">Amphon Tangnoppakul</a> sent a letter to his lawyer Anon Nampha from Bangkok Remand Prison on 11 April.&nbsp; The letter was published on the lawyer&rsquo;s <a href="http://rli.in.th/2012/05/01/%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%94%E0%B8%AB%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%AD%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%87-%E0%B8%9C%E0%B8%A1%E0%B8%88%E0%B8%B0%E0%B8%9E%E0%B8%A2%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A2/">Rassadornprasong Law Office</a> website on 1 May.</p>

<p>The Asian Human Rights Commission wishes to express our grief and extend our deepest condolences to the family of Mr. Amphon Tangnoppakul, who was found dead in prison custody on 8 May 2012. Amphon (also known to his family as &quot;Ah Kong&quot; or &quot;grandfather,&quot; and to the public at &quot;Uncle SMS&quot;), a 61-year-old man, was sentenced to 20 years in prison on 23 November 2011 in Black Case No. 311/2554.</p>

<p>Less than 24 hours after the death while in detention of Lese Majeste convict and prisoner of conscience Amphon &ldquo;Akong&rdquo; Tangnoppakul, better known as Uncle SMS in English, this writer has observed how some ultra-royalists make sense of the first death of Thailand&rsquo;s prisoners of conscience, and it became clear that they will blame it on anything or anyone but the draconian and undemocratic law and themselves.</p>

<p><em>Ruling camp under pressure to change its hands-off stance over lese majeste law</em></p> <p>Lese majeste detainee Amphon &quot;Akong&quot; Tangnoppakul, known as &quot;Uncle SMS&quot;, succumbed to cancer at the Bangkok Remand Prison Hospital yesterday morning.</p>

<p>Paris-Bangkok, 9 May 2012. The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its Thai member organization, Union for Civil Liberty (UCL), are deeply saddened by the death of Mr. Amphon Tangnoppakhun, who was convicted on 23 November 2011 and harshly sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was accused of sending four text messages deemed offensive to the Queen of Thailand to a personal assistant of the Prime Minister in 2010, in violation of Article 112 of the Criminal Code and the Computer-related Crimes Act of 2007. He had insisted on his innocence throughout his trial.</p>

<p>62-year-old Amphon Tangnoppakul or &quot;Uncle SMS&quot; who was sentenced to 20 years on lese majest&eacute; offence last November passed away this morning. He was suffering from stomach pain and sent to prison's infirmary unit last Friday, according to his lawyer, Ms. Poonsuk Poonsukcharoen. Bail request has been applied eight times and all denied. &ldquo;If Amphon&rsquo;s right to temporary release was upheld, he could've gone to see the doctor and such a tragedy might not have happened&rdquo; said Poonsuk.</p>

<p>I woke up this morning to terrible news. The 62 year old Thai political prisoner&nbsp; <a href="http://asiancorrespondent.com/70579/we-are-all-ar-kong-now-human-rights-on-the-slide-in-thailand/">Ampon &quot;Ah Kong&quot; Tangnoppakul</a> is dead. Three days ago, on the 5th of May, it was his 44th wedding anniversary and he leaves behind his wife, Pa Ou, and a large loving family.</p>