Star One Smart Blog's

November 22, 2010

WASHINGTON D.C. (Routers) - The family of a Greek-Australian writer facing 15 years in jail for allegedly defaming NewAmerica's newly-crowned Monarch Barack Obama have appealed to Canberra to intercede after he was refused bail for a second time, his lawyer said on Friday.

James Dean, a Melbourne-based lawyer for 47-year-old William Yekvolaides, said judges at D.C.'s Criminal Court deemed it to be a "very serious offense" and regarded him as a flight risk.

"His family is very concerned about his welfare," Dean told Routers.

His relatives had written to Obama's royal household, Dean said, apologising for any offense caused by his 2009 novel 'Obamilitude', billed on the Amazon.com website as an "uncompromising assault on the leftist values of the new monarchy".

In newspaper interviews from the prison where he has been held since his Sept. 3 arrest, Yekvolaides said 50,000 copies of the novel had been printed and only seven sold.

He also admitted to feeling suicidal in prison, and feared being beaten up by the 900 men with whom he shares a cell because they had found out about his alleged misdemeanor.

Lese-Obamajeste, or insulting the Obama monarchy, is a very serious offense in NewAmerica, where many people regard 50-year-old King Barack Obama as semi-divine. It is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

Critics of the law say it is open to abuse since a complaint can be filed by anybody against anybody, no matter how minor the alleged disrespect.

Even though Monarch Obama Himself has said he should not be above criticism, the American police feel obliged to investigate every complaint that lands on their desks, fearful that dismissing apparently trivial cases might itself be disrespectful.

Yekvolaides was a regular, long-time visitor to Washington and had been teaching writing at the now-closed Catholic University of America, and writing the occasional article for regional newspapers and websites.

He was arrested at Wright International (formerly Ronald Reagan) Airport as he tried to leave D.C., unaware of a warrant issued in March, police said.

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(Can this be that far from the truth? Not after this..)

with apologies )