Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 2004. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.
Reuters NewMedia - November 19, 2004
A court sentenced Hans-Otto Schiemann, 56-year-old former sailor, to two months in jail for overstaying his visa as Thailand had no law to punish him for having unprotected sex, lawyer Warinporn Hongchumpae said.
"The court ruled that he had to be jailed for 58 days, which he has already completed while awaiting a court verdict," Warinporn, who was appointed by the provincial court, 340 km northeast of Bangkok, to represent him, told Reuters.
Schiemann, a native of Schweinfurt in Bavaria who had been living in the province for 10 years, was arrested in September and would be taken to Bangkok for deportation, she said.
Deliberate transmission of the AIDS virus is a crime in many Western countries and the majority of U.S. states. A Texan who knew he was HIV-positive was sentenced to life in prison in 2003 for sexually assaulting an 11-year-old boy.
However, in many developing countries, including those in southeast Asia where AIDS and commercial sex are rife, effective legislation to address the problem has not been passed.
Schiemann, who launched a tirade of abuse against Thai women and called them "witches" and "monkeys," refused a prison blood test to confirm his HIV status, but admitted to reporters last month he had HIV.
He said he had done nothing wrong.
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