BANGKOK , Thailand ( CNN ) -- An Australian author imprisoned last month for insulting the king and crown prince of Thailand was on his way home Saturday after receiving a pardon from the king . Harry Nicolaides behind the bars of a Thai holding cell . Harry Nicolaides , 41 , was arrested last August over his 2005 book titled `` Verisimilitude . '' The book includes a paragraph about the king and crown prince that authorities deemed a violation of a law that makes it illegal to defame , insult or threaten the crown . CNN has chosen not to repeat the language because it could result in CNN staff being prosecuted in Thailand . Mark Dean , a lawyer for Nicolaides , said he was released Friday and taken to the Australian embassy in Bangkok , where he stayed until leaving for Australia at about midnight . `` He is obviously very relieved and grateful that the pardon was granted , '' Dean said . Nicolaides was sentenced to three years in prison after pleading guilty last month . He faced a term of up to six years before the plea . Watch shackled Nicolaides at court » . His lawyers then requested the pardon . King Bhumibol Adulydej had pardoned foreigners in similar cases in the past . Dean said Nicolaides was deported from Thailand , but that he did not know of any other stipulations related to the pardon . In an interview with CNN International , Dean avoided repeating what Nicolaides wrote , but said the passage was presented as a rumor , not a fact . `` This is probably not the best time to repeat the passage that was found to be offensive , '' Dean said . `` But it concerned the crown prince of Thailand and a rumor that was being circulated in Thailand about the crown prince . '' Nicolaides had been living in Thailand since 2003 , lecturing at two universities about tourism . He was about to leave Thailand when he was arrested on August 31 . It is not clear why the authorities waited three years after the publication of his book to bring charges against him . Fifty copies of the book were published , and only seven were sold . Thailand 's king is highly revered in the Buddhist nation . But even he has said in the past that he can be criticized . Thailand 's prime minister , Abhisit Vejjajiva , also has told CNN he is concerned about what he called misuse of the law . Still , other cases of violating the law are pending before the Thai Criminal Court , involving both Thais and foreigners .
Harry Man , 41 , was arrested last August over his 2005 book . The book includes a story about the king and the prince . Police deemed it a violation of a law that makes it illegal to steal the crown . Man 's mother says he was relieved and left for home at about midnight .