"Veena Thoopkrajae" shouts the judge, "you stand before the Court of Champions of Democracy tonight charged with being a threat to democracy. You have allegedly been cheerful about the military coup. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," I say firmly.

The prosecutor jumps to his feet. "Can you please tell the court your whereabouts when the coup started and your first reaction?"

"I was abroad when the coup occurred. When the news broke on BBC, I prayed that it was not 'his' self-coup. But I'm not quite sure about my feelings."

"Not sure?" The prosecutor raises his voice. "Didn't you feel upset about the whole thing - tanks, military, the death of our beloved People's Constitution? Didn't you mourn the loss of hard-earned democracy and feel sorry for the country's tarnished image? All our democracy advocates are feeling so depressed and lament our undemocratic way of solving political problems. The fact that you and many others don't really feel anything breaches every value of democracy.

I shake my head. "No, no, no. That is so unfair. Now I'm a threat to democracy while Thaksin becomes a champion of democracy just because he was forced out by the military. Everybody knows there was no way Thaksin would step down. My fellow protesters and I were exhausted from joining many rallies. We did what we could but it didn't work. Of course, I wish things had been solved in a democratic way. Believe me, every protester would have been on top of the world if their rallies had ousted him."

"But you're happy that he's gone, aren't you? Tell me, what kind of democracy do you uphold? Now we look only slightly better than the Burmese. I'd like to warn you that even Singapore now condemns the coup as a major setback to our democracy."

"Er … Isn't Singapore branded an 'Asian style' or 'semi' democracy' by the West? Not to offend you, sir, but even with its long-established and self-proclaimed democracy Singapore is still behind us in terms of press freedom. Let me quote the famous line from the romantic epic 'Titanic' and say this to the Singaporean government: 'I'd rather be his whore than your wife'."

The prosecutor makes a swift turn. "Could the court please note that the defendant has no real understanding of democracy?"

He continues: "Umm … you really need re-education. Let me tell you that even the demonstrations you participated in were branded 'mob rule' by the press from civilised countries. The Chicago Tribune said the middle-class voters tried to force Thaksin out the old-fashioned way - through mob rule, while the LA Times painted Bangkok as 'a capital paralysed by protests'. The Economist also portrayed how mobs tried to use undemocratic means to topple the Thaksin administration. To my knowledge, it is only the Irrawaddy, a Burmese paper, which criticised the oversimplifying tone used by The Economist. Any rule by force is unacceptable if your goal is to be a champion of democracy."

"So when academics write that democracy requires people's participation, do they really mean it? When we did participate, they called us 'mob rule'. And how can the human-rights advocates proclaim the universality of rights while our peaceful assembly was branded a mob or possibly violent only because we were against a politician who won the majority of votes?"

"Miss", the prosecutor shoots back, "we want to clarify here that a military coup is even more damaging to democracy. It is a very bad thing for human rights and economic progress too. Isn't that clear?"

"Sorry, sir, I guess you don't take US State Department Human Rights Report seriously, or the fact that our freedom-of-the-press ranking has been on a downturn since the Thaksin regime began. His 'elected' government too violated people's rights and freedom. The only difference was that they managed to get away with it and that the Constitution - never mind that its intentions were perverted - was still shamelessly used as a showcase of democracy. As for the economy, you'll know after the new Assets Examination Committee reveals the facts and figures how much the country should have earned in lost tax revenues. So if the military coup was bad for human rights, it should still be okay, right?"

"Silence!" yells the judge. "Miss, we are not concerned here with your philosophical questions. We are here to find out whether you are a threat to democracy. Although the military helped you and many others get rid of Thaksin, you have no right to enjoy this act. Don't forget that it is still uncertain if democracy will survive after this."

"But, sir, since the father of all champions of democracy, President George Bush, announced at the United Nations recently that "people are making the choice for freedom", what if I chose to allow military officers to free the country from the abusive and corrupted Thaksin regime? What if the majority agrees with the military and gives them the mandate to restore the country?"

"You don't have that choice," booms the judge.

I raise my voice for the first time before the court: "All right, what do you want me to say? You want me to say I'm happy that Thaksin has gone? You just want to prove this at any length?"

"Enough!" shouts the judge. "The defendant is guilty as charged!"

Veena Thoopkrajae