OUTLAW LESE MAJESTE

 

OUTLAW LESE MAJESTE

Thai activist lawyer Anon Nampa faces over 29 years in prison over ‘Royal Insult’

He has been detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison since September 2023

Written byPrachatai

Read this post in English

Posted 17 July 2025

A protester (center) standing in front of the Criminal Court on July 8, 2025, holding a picture of Anon Nampa (Photo by Ginger Cat). Source: Prachatai, content partner of Global Voices

This article was published by Prachatai, an independent news site in Thailand. An edited version has been republished by Global Voices under a content-sharing agreement.

Human rights lawyer and activist Anon Nampa has been sentenced to 2 years and 4 months in prison on charges of royal defamation and sedition, bringing his total prison sentence to 29 years and 1 month.

He was charged with royal defamation, sedition, participating in a gathering of more than 10 persons, and causing a breach of peace, as well as violations of the Emergency Decree, the Communicable Diseases Act, and the Public Assembly Act for participating in the November 17, 2020, protest in front of parliament to demand constitutional amendments.

Read more: Voices in a Bangkok rally a day after police used water cannon and tear gas against protesters

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that the court found Anon guilty of royal defamation because it believed that, when he mentioned selfies and putting on an act in his speech, he was referring to King Vajiralongkorn’s visit to Udon Thani, in which he greeted supporters, and Princess Sirivannavari’s selfies with members of the public. Although Anon did not mention the King and the Princess by name, the Court said the speech was defamatory because it believed he was calling them fake. It is illegal in Thailand to “defame, insult, or threaten” the Thai royal family based on the controversial Lèse-majesté law.

The court noted that Anon often expressed his disagreement with the monarchy. Although he said he did not want to overthrow the monarchy by criticizing it, but wants it to co-exist with democracy and dignity, the court said that he should have found other, more appropriate ways of doing so.

Activist Parit Chiwarak also faced the same charges. However, he was found not guilty of royal defamation because his speech criticized the parliament building and its design, although he used it as a metaphor about the structure of society and the monarchy.

The court found Anon and Parit not guilty of participating in a gathering and causing a breach of peace and violations of the Emergency Decree, the Communicable Diseases Act, and the Public Assembly Act because the protest was held in an open space at a time when disease control measures declared during the COVID-19 pandemic were already being relaxed. The prosecution could not prove that they organized the protest, and so he was not responsible for notifying the authorities of the protest or keeping it peaceful. Sharing the Facebook post announcing the protest does not mean that they organized it.

The court ruled that the protest was peaceful, and that the right to protest is enshrined in the Constitution and international laws, and so could not be limited by the police. Anon and Parit also told the protesters to stay peaceful and not try to incite unrest. The court also noted that most of those injured by tear gas and water cannons were pro-democracy protesters, and so they were not the cause of the violence. Anon and Parit also did not threaten Parliament into passing constitutional amendment bills in their speeches.

Nevertheless, the court found Anon and Parit guilty of sedition because they announced the end of the protest and called for another protest the next day at the police headquarters.

Anon was sentenced to three years in prison for royal defamation, reduced to 2 years because the witness examination provided useful information. He was sentenced to 6 months for sedition, reduced to four months for the same reason, bringing his total prison sentence in this case to two years and four months.

Anon has so far been found guilty of 10 counts of royal defamation, one count of sedition, one count of violating the Emergency Decree, and one count of contempt of court. The latest verdict brought the total prison sentence he is facing for his activism to 26 years, 37 months, and 20 days, or around 29 years and 1 month. He has been detained pending appeal at the Bangkok Remand Prison since 26 September 2023.

Parit, meanwhile, was sentenced to six months in prison for sedition, later reduced to four months.

The November 17 protest took place at the same time as a special parliamentary session, during which senators and MPs discussed seven proposals for constitutional amendments, including the so-called “people’s draft,” proposed by iLaw, a legal watchdog NGO, and endorsed by 98,041 voters. None of the drafts were passed.

The protest was met with blockades and riot police. Tear gas and water mixed with chemical irritants from water cannons were fired at protesters occupying Samsen Road and Kiak Kai intersection. There were reports of more than 10 waves of tear gas being used on protesters, both in canister form and from the water cannon, as well as some clashes between pro-monarchy protesters and pro-democracy protest guards.

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Written byPrachatai

Macedonian prime minister blamed lack of cows and sheep for the summer wildfires

 

Macedonian prime minister blamed lack of cows and sheep for the summer wildfires

This is not a joke; the prime minister was ‘dead serious’

Written byMetamorphosis Foundation

Posted 15 July 2025

Prime Minister of the Republic of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski. Screenshot from the video by the PBS Macedonian Radio Television on the YouTube channel of the government. Fair use.

This article by Olivera Vojnovska was first published by Truthmeter.mk as part of the Counterspin series of analytical and explanatory articles. An edited version is being republished on Global Voices under a content partnership agreement with Metamorphosis Foundation.

Given the increased risk of forest fires during the summer months, North Macedonia faces a shortage of firefighting aircraft, pilots, and other qualified technical personnel. There is also a shortage of firefighters, while the firefighting vehicles and equipment are worn out. However, what is important is that we have identified the culprit for the fires – cows and sheep! This is not a joke, it was the prime minister who was “dead serious” as he explained on national television that there are no cattle to graze the grass in the mountains and that is why we have fires.

Prime Minister of North Macedonia Hristijan Mickoski appeared on the Macedonian Public Broadcasting Service MRT on June 24 on a special show about the anniversary of his administration.  He spoke about the situation with agriculture, livestock farming, the subsidy and support system. Among other things, he said that as a country, we will be dependent on food imports, especially in the meat sector. When he mentioned forest fires, he spun the truth about the causes and measures needed for their prevention:

• Translation
 
• Original Quote

Unfortunately, that’s one of the reasons why we have wildfires, because we don’t have cattle in the mountains to graze the grass and that’s why our grass is lush, and now it’s going to dry out; it’s hot and the fires will start, it is fire season. It used to be different, a lot of cattle in the mountains, thousands, tens, hundreds of thousands of heads graze the grass and the possibility of fires is lower. Now there’s lush vegetation, hot weather dries it up, sparks fly and fires break out.

There needs to be some work done here, but unfortunately there are fewer and fewer people involved in livestock farming, fewer shepherds. Even though it’s a very well-paid profession — two thousand euros or more is the monthly salary for shepherds. However, fewer and fewer people are involved in all of that.

So, I personally follow it, not that I’m a know-it-all … but logically, as the prime minister you have to follow and make a strategy… But in the area of ​​livestock farming, unfortunately, we will have to be meat importers for a long time.

Counterspin

In this statement, Prime Minister Mickoski says that wildfires occur because there are not enough cattle in the mountains to graze the grass. One can recognise the spin, and it seems somewhat strange, even funny. Mickoski, as he himself added, is not a “know-it-all(!)” yet, in the interview, he blamed the livestock, cows and sheep, for the fires!

However, contrary to this claim, the most common cause of forest fires in North Macedonia is the human factor — lighting fires, throwing kindling in open spaces, disregarding the ban on movement in forests, and deliberate arson. Furthermore, climate change has a significant impact, including droughts, extremely high temperatures, and strong winds that are atypical for certain regions.

On the other hand, a very important issue is how to extinguish the fires that rage every summer. This year, once again, they will probably not spare us. It is quite worrying how the state will cope with the fire threat when there are not enough firefighters in the territorial fire departments and when the vehicles and equipment are old and dilapidated. North Macedonia does not have enough aircraft, active pilots, neither a training center or interest from young pilots in this profession.

There are still many “no’s” hanging over (un)preparedness of the state to deal with fires. It is certain that it will once again have to rely on international help to fight fires this year:

When North Macedonia was burning last year, it received help from “air tractors” and helicopters from the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey, Croatia, as well as from Sweden and Germany, while firefighters from abroad with special off-road vehicles also helped. The situation was similar in previous years.

According to data from the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS), which is part of the Copernicus Programme, last year in Macedonia, over 94,000 hectares [232,279 acres] burned in 126 forest fires. In percentage terms, 3.6 percent of the total territory of the country burned. EFFIS announced alarming data, according to which last year as much forest burned in North Macedonia as in the previous 10 years combined, when over 400 forest fires burned about 100,000 hectares [247,105 acres].

The most difficult year before that was 2019, when 29,807 hectares [73,655 acres] burned in 135 forest fires. One of the largest forest fires last year was in Mariovo, where 11,000 hectares [27,182 acres] burned, and it was finally brought under control eight days after the outbreak. EFFIS also reported that because of the numerous forest fires last August, the government requested emergency assistance and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism was activated. In response, 10 aerial firefighting teams from six EU member states were deployed to North Macedonia to help the country fight the fires.

Recently, however, the new director of the Protection and Rescue Directorate (PRDM), Stojanche Angelov, who came to this position from the directorship of the Crisis Management Center (CMC), announced that none of the three “air tractor” (Air Tractor AT-802) firefighting aircraft were operational:

• Translation
 
• Original Quote

At this moment, there is not a single functional air tractor in the country, but I am optimistic that we will soon have the three air tractors together with the crews, that is, the pilots. They are currently undergoing service, there are certain problems, I would say, but I believe that they will be quickly eliminated and they will be returned to the country in a timely manner in anticipation of the upcoming fires.

Angelov complained that the PRDM faces serious challenges, including a shortage of pilots, problems with servicing air tractors, and a lack of contracts with rapid response teams, especially those for extinguishing open-air fires. In addition, some members of these teams lack adequate equipment, training, and physical fitness. Angelov said:

• Translation
 
• Original Quote

Fire protection inspection and supervision are in poor condition, with a lack of qualified inspectors and doubts about the validity of issued permits. Additionally, the Protection and Rescue Directorate has only a few specialists for handling unexploded ordnance, which is stored inappropriately.

At the beginning of June, only one aircraft was returned from regular service, the Protection and Rescue Directorate announced on Facebook.

Thus, in the face of the increased risk of forest fires during the summer months, North Macedonia does not have enough firefighting planes, pilots, and other qualified technical personnel. There is a shortage of firefighters; however, what is important is that we have identified the culprit for the fires – cows and sheep!

The Bridge features personal essays, commentary, and creative non-fiction that illuminate differences in perception between local and international coverage of news events, from the unique perspective of members of the Global Voices community. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the opinion of the community as a whole. All Posts

A future without women: Consequences of gender apartheid in Afghanistan

A grim scenario in which half the population cannot fulfill their potential

Written by Fatima Yousofi

Posted 16 July 2025


Afghan women and a girl walking outside. Screenshot from the video ‘The Taliban’s rules for women in Afghanistan | Start Here’ from the Al Jazeera English YouTube channel. Fair use.

In Afghanistan, women have become subjected to institutionalized gender apartheid. Since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, Afghan women have been confined to their homes and erased from the public sphere, employment, and education.

This is the result of the Taliban’s deliberate policies and overall authoritarian structure, which has been exacerbated by regional and international institutions. The lack of male solidarity and the blunder of international organizations, which have been largely ineffective, only compound the crisis.

The silencing of women is one of the main tools of control. If the current gender apartheid continues to take hold, it will transform Afghan society through long-term and systemic social, political, and economic implications.
Socio-cultural and psychological consequences

Social life will be fractured if women are further forced to live in silence. Eventually, girls will be deprived of role models, families who counted on women’s leadership or earnings will lose both, and stark patriarchy will be perpetuated. Communities lose resilience, diversity, and inventiveness when half of them are ostracized. Morality and cultural development crumble along with the population loss.

Since girls under the Taliban rule are taught to be subordinate to men, they are more likely to experience early marriages or be forced to marry, in most cases, to Taliban members. The Taliban leaders have exhibited acquisitive behavior toward women by proactively seeking to marry second or third wives.

A significant number of Afghan women have constrained choices when it comes to choosing their marriage partners, while one-third of them fall victim to forced marriages. Henceforth, Afghan women are largely experiencing depression, domestic violence, and even suicide because many cannot say “no,” or they become inconspicuous and fade away. In addition, men are now encouraged to wed several wives, which disrupts the social structure and normalizes the acceptability of polygamy. Under these circumstances, many boys will develop a sense of entitlement to dominate women, and that male dominance will likely persist, even if the Taliban are ousted from power.
Economic and political consequences

The economic costs of this gender imbalance are already catastrophic. In 2022, UNDP estimated that denying women access to the workforce could cost Afghanistan as much as USD 1 billion a year, or about 5 percent of its GDP. Almost 8 out of 10 Afghan women are now banned from pursuing education, training, and employment.

Lost economic productivity has both short and long-term ramifications for a nation already struggling with severe humanitarian issues. Educated working women not only make a living but also contribute to the development of the entire country. They support the service, agriculture, education, and public health sectors. Afghanistan cannot rebuild, recover, and compete in the international economy if it continues to bar women from socio-economic contribution.

Regardless of extensive condemnation, including from UN General Assembly resolutions and EU sanctions, the global response to gender apartheid has been largely symbolic. Sanctions have targeted individual Taliban leaders, but no substantive legal mechanisms have been employed to hold the regime accountable. The UN Security Council remains divided.

Additionally, Afghan women have been excluded from diplomatic discussions and international forums, including the most recent UN-sponsored gathering in Doha, where no Afghan women participated in any official capacity.

The political exclusion of women from civil society and government results in unbalanced and non-representative national decision-making. In addition to being excluded from the political process, women are deprived of their right to decide the destiny of the country. It isolates Afghanistan, leading to greater reliance on foreign aid and brain drain in the domestic economy.
Challenges and pathways forward

The institutional suppression and marginalization of women ravage the existing opportunities, resulting in rising poverty, mental trauma, and instability. Henceforth, combating this mayhem needs to be addressed equally with international involvement and domestic reformation.

Domestically, Afghanistan needs functioning specialized units and independent organizations within the government structure to enable women to fulfill their personal and professional potential. The structures should include the departments for healthcare, education, legal and political awareness, and economic empowerment.

Notably, they need to be able to resist the limitations, instability, and cultural resistance by ensuring, supporting, and advocating for gender equality in Afghanistan.

In the meantime, the international community is obliged to offer realistic assistance that allows Afghan women to actively participate in their country’s political and economic life. In this regard, the microcredit program of Bangladesh for women’s empowerment could serve as a highly suitable model for implementation in Afghanistan.

Amidst the restrictions for women, there are still small and diverse pockets of resistance. They come in the form of free online courses, mentoring programs, distribution of educational materials, miniature home industries, local women’s organizations, and covert schools. Examples include the University of the People, FutureLearn, and the initiatives led by the Afghanistan Law & Political Science Association and the Herat Online School, which provides college-level education.

Despite functioning in secret, they still offer hope and resilience. Virtual skills acquisition, mobile banking, and online learning could offer women access to education and economic empowerment. The fractioned opportunities are, nevertheless, greatly impeded by the Taliban’s surveillance, digital exclusion, and illiteracy.

Internationally, along with diplomatic pressure and sanctions against the Taliban regime mounting, Afghanistan threatens to become isolated. However, the aim is to hold the leaders accountable, not exacerbate the humanitarian crisis by halting foreign aid. Some international donors condition their aid on women’s rights. Keeping in mind the devastating poverty rate in Afghanistan, it wouldn’t be a fair option, as the vast majority of women depend on foreign aid.

To avoid school closures, a possible solution could be hybrid learning programs, which combine community study groups with online learning. Such hybrid programs would be particularly useful for girls in remote areas and should ensure easy internet access and devices that are optimized for education and connectivity. A solution for this could be the Starlink free internet initiative.

Platforms for innovative women should be provided to use and transfer their skills, sell crafts, and get paid. If successful, these programs can show how creativity and local determination can bring change.

The women in urban and rural Afghanistan are extremely diverse, and solutions must be tailored, taking into account these differences. Henceforth, the experience and knowledge of Afghan women from various ethnic, regional, and social backgrounds should be acknowledged and studied to become the starting point for a promising future.

Afghan women’s organizations and local voices must be heard throughout the process for genuine and sustainable progress. The process needs sound coordination, culturally sensitive steps, and persistent effort. It won’t happen overnight, but if implemented correctly, it will incrementally build steady progress. Afghanistan will start to end gender apartheid and construct a future where women are fully integrated into society.

Written by Fatima Yousofi

The Bridge features personal essays, commentary, and creative non-fiction that illuminate differences in perception between local and international coverage of news events, from the unique perspective of members of the Global Voices community. Views expressed do not necessarily represent the opinion of the community as a whole. 

From near-extinction to a nationwide problem: The story of saiga antelope in Kazakhstan

The ‘Kazakh miracle’ saved saigas from extinction but has now led to overpopulation

Written by Nurbek Bekmurzaev

Posted 19 July 2025


The saiga antelopes in the steppe.

 Screenshot from the video “Сайгак интересные факты (Сайга)” from Узнавай! YouTube channel. Fair use.

On July 3, the Kazakhstani authorities launched a campaign to regulate the population of the Saiga antelope, also known locally as saigak, whose number reached 3.9 million in 2025. The plan is to shoot around 20 percent of the country's saigak population, around 800,000, until the end of November 2025, and process their meat, horns, and fur. The Ministry of Ecology justified this decision by stating:


Fields are being destroyed [by saiga herds], livestock are losing pastures, and the dangerously growing saiga population could paralyze agricultural activity.

In the first week of the campaign, the authorities shot down more than 550 saigaks.

Here is a YouTube video about the start of the campaign.



Thus, what was unthinkable two decades ago, when saigaks almost went extinct due to poaching, became a reality. Kazakhstan’s preservation efforts allowed the saigaks to thrive in the steppe, beating the historic record of 1.2 million species recorded in 1974 three times over. After saving saigaks from near-extinction, the country is now grappling with the unexpected challenges of its most successful preservation effort, known as the “Kazakh miracle.”

“A symbol of the Kazakh steppe“

Saigaks are a true symbol of the Kazakh steppe, having inhabited this space for thousands of years. They have been roaming the territory of modern-day Kazakhstan and across the whole Eurasian continent since the Stone Age.

This means that saigaks survived the last Ice Age and did not perish like other animals, such as mammoths, woolly rhinos, and aurochs.

Over time, saigaks went extinct in most places, except for a handful of countries, including Kazakhstan, where 90 percent of the current saiga population is concentrated. Currently, there are three population types of saigaks in Kazakhstan: Ural, Ustyurt, and Bekpak-Dala.

More than half of all saigaks, or 2.3 million, inhabit the Western Kazakhstan province, where the authorities started their “population control” campaign, due to the intensifying conflict between local farmers and saigak populations.

Although Kazakh people have historically hunted saigaks, it was considered a sacred animal in the local culture. It was believed that whoever killed saigaks without a good reason would meet a cruel punishment, which would also extend to that person's family.

The respect for saigaks as the national symbol is still present in Kazakhstan, evidenced by its presence on the local currency bill and the designation as “the symbol of the Kazakh steppe” by President Kassym-Jomart Toqayev.

Poaching to the brink of extinction

It is difficult to mistake saigaks for another animal due to its unique appearance. They are mid-sized antelopes with thin legs that help them run as fast as 80 kilometers per hour.

Their most distinct feature is their unique nose in the form of a soft and movable proboscis, which makes them look like alien creatures at first sight. Their nose helps them filter dust in the steppe and warm up cold air in freezing winters.

Here is a YouTube video about saigas.




The males are adorned with the lyre-share translucent horns, the demand for which drove saigas near extinction and continues to pose the biggest threat.

The existing historical records suggest that saigaks almost went extinct on two occasions in Kazakhstan. At the end of the 19th and the start of the 20th centuries, the saiga were deliberately exterminated, especially when people began to have firearms en masse.

Their horns were traded with China, where they were used in traditional medicine. Epidemics compounded the crisis, and the saigak population dropped to about 20,000 by the early 20th century.

The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia saved saigaks from extinction. By the start of the Russian Civil War in 1917, Kazakhstan had long been part of the Russian Empire, having been annexed to it in the previous century.

In 1919, the leader of the revolution, Vladimir Lenin, signed a decree limiting hunting seasons, which helped the saigak population recover, since it was banned to hunt them. As a result, from 1919 to 1953, it grew past a million.

With the breakup of the Soviet Union and Kazakhstan’s independence in 1991, poaching exploded. Between 1991 and 2006, the saigak population decreased by 94–97 percent, with only 21,000 by 2003. The males were killed by poachers, who smuggled their horns to China, where it is believed to cure fever, convulsions, strokes, and liver and stomach diseases.

Kazakhstan threw all its efforts at restoring the saigak population by creating protected areas. In 2005, the government launched the Altyn Dala project and created natural reserves where saigaks were protected from poachers. Later, it banned the use of the saigak products, including all parts and derivatives, at the legislative level.

In 2019, following an incident when poachers killed a ranger, the authorities introduced harsher punishment for poaching: imprisonment up to 12 years and confiscation of property.

After 20 years of preservation efforts, in 2023, the saigak number grew from 21,000 to 1.9 million, drawing international praise.

Here is a YouTube video about Kazakhstan saving the saiga antelope.



Commenting on this success, Andrey Kim, a representative of the Ministry of Ecology of Kazakhstan, noted:

The whole world is watching us. Many international scientists call the rescue of the saiga in our steppes a ‘Kazakh miracle.’

In 2024, the Altyn Dala project received a prestigious Earthshot Prize and GBP 1 million to continue its preservation work.

Who took whose land?

In less than two years, Kazakhstan went from celebrating its unprecedented preservation success to shooting down saigaks en masse. The main reason why the government has launched the campaign to decrease the saigak population is the constant complaints by farmers.

Complaints against saigaks boil down to their competition with livestock for water and pastureland, and the damage to hayfields and crops of forage grasses caused by the seasonal migration and lambing. Those who demand that authorities take measures range from fierce haters who want all saigaks gone to mild critics who are willing to put up with the saiga as long as their damages are compensated.

Here is a YouTube video with farmers’ complaints against saigaks.



What they all fail to acknowledge is that it is humans who have taken over the land historically inhabited by saigaks. In the Western Kazakhstan region, where this conflict is the most acute, the total area of the land leased to herders grew exponentially over the last two decades, encroaching on the saiga habitat.

For example, in 2000, the land leased by farmers was 22,939 hectares. In 2023, the farm holdings were staggering 557,667 hectares.

Additionally, the farmers refuse to acknowledge that the shortage of water and pastures is caused by climate change and other anthropogenic factors, and not by the saiga, which may exacerbate the crisis, but are not its primary drivers.

Ultimately, in their state of rage and desperation, farmers and herders forget that saigaks prevent the steppe from turning into a desert by carefully loosening the soil with their hooves and facilitating the flow of moisture. They participate in the cross-pollination of steppe plants. Unlike goats, saigaks don’t uproot grass and eat only the upper part. As a bonus, they eat more than 60 species of plants that are inedible or even poisonous to livestock.

Kazakhstan can make millions of dollars from processing saigak meat and horns. Sustainable use of animal resources is a widespread practice worldwide, whereby a certain number of species are hunted every year, and the revenue from it goes to preservation and local communities.

If done right, in addition to the exemplary preservation effort, Kazakhstan can birth another success story in the field of sustainable management of wildlife and keep its national symbol alive and thriving for future generations.





Written by Nurbek Bekmurzaev

ANOTHER KENNEDY CONSPIRACY

Long lost ‘Chappaquiddick’ tapes found by son of reporter investigating Ted Kennedy crash

Nick Damore is working his way through each of the tapes — hours of listening — to determine what they contain

Graig Graziosi
in Washington, D.C.
Saturday 19 July 2025 

Senator Ted Kennedy and Mary Jo Kopechne. Nick Damore, son of investigative journalist Leo Damore, has found his father’s lost audio recordings of interviews he conducted investigating Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick car accident in 1969. The crash resulted in Kopechne’s death and decades of questions (Getty)

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The son of the investigative journalist who literally wrote the book on Senator Ted Kennedy’s Chappaquiddick car crash scandal has discovered his father's long-lost investigation audiotapes, according to a report in PEOPLE.

Nick Damore, the son of investigative journalist Leo Damore, has been searching for his father's audiotapes for years. His father, Leo Damore, is the author of the 1988 blockbuster book Senatorial Privilege, which explored Kennedy's 1969 car accident in Martha's Vineyard that resulted in the death of his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne.

Kennedy waited 10 hours before alerting the police about his crash and the death of his passenger. Why he did so is still unknown.

‘Leo Damore's book went on to sell more than a million copies. It took him eight years to produce the book and required more than 200 interviews, many of which were recorded on audiotapes.

In 1995, Leo Damore died by suicide, and many of his documents and tapes disappeared in the aftermath.

Among the Chappaquiddick tapes that disappeared were interview recordings of Joe Gargan, Kennedy's cousin, who was at a reunion party with the senator on the night Kopechne died.

Nick Damore, who teaches middle school in Connecticut, was only 10 when his father died, and has spent years trying to track down his father's tapes.

In 2021, he received a call from an attorney telling him that one of his father's lawyers, Harold Fields, had found a briefcase belonging to his father.

“They’d been cleaning out his house," Nick told PEOPLE, "and they found a briefcase under a bed that said ‘Leo Damore vs. Ted Kennedy’ and that had all the tapes.”

The case contained nine bundles of tapes that included interviews with attorneys, investigators, and other figures closely associated with the case.


"It’s fascinating to hear Leo in his element," Nick said of his father. "It’s like you’re watching a master at work."

The Gargan interviews are among the tapes located in the briefcase.

At the time of the incident, Gargan claimed that he, attorney Paul Markham, and his cousin, Kennedy, had traveled to the bridge where Kennedy's car had gone off the road and into the water below in an attempt to rescue Kopechne.

Gargan later changed his story and claimed that Kennedy had instructed him to lie about the events of the night and to claim that Kopechne was driving at the time of the crash. He said he refused to blame the woman.

"They were interested in protecting the senator, there's no question about that," Gargan told Leo Damore in one of the interviews. "And they let us fend for ourselves. As well as everybody else."

Most of what's contained on the tapes never made it into Leo Damore's book, so his son is doing his best to listen to all of the newly discovered audio logs and make sense of the story his father spent so many years working to tell.

“I’m just scratching the surface," Nick Damore said.