Flashermac Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 Two journalists face jail if found guilty of defamation after citing a Pulitzer-prize winning report alleging Thai military links to people-smuggling, one of them said Wednesday, raising fears for media freedom in the kingdom. Australian editor Alan Morison and his Thai colleague Chutima Sidasathian are due Thursday to hear the criminal charges brought by the Thai navy at a court in the southern island of Phuket. They could face up to two years’ imprisonment for defamation and five years for breaching the Computer Crimes Act, as well as a $3,100 fine. The complaint relates to an article published by their independent news website Phuketwan in July last year. It quoted an investigation by Reuters news agency, which said some members of the military were involved in trafficking Muslim Rohingya asylum-seekers who had fled Myanmar. Reuters was this week awarded a prestigious Pulitzer prize for journalism for the investigation. Chutima, who has covered the Rohingya issue for eight years and helped Reuters with its investigation, accused the Thai navy of seeking to muzzle "small media" with the defamation complaint. "We won’t apply for bail, this is a bad law and it is an issue of the freedom of the press. This should not happen to the media in a democratic country," she said ahead of the hearing. Phuketwan is a small but respected English-language news website based in Phuket. In December the United Nations urged Thailand to drop the charges, warning of a "chilling effect" on press freedom. The stateless Rohingya are considered by the UN to be one of the world’s most persecuted minorities. They have long made the perilous journey from Myanmar by boat. But the numbers fleeing to Thailand increased rapidly after Buddhist-Muslim clashes in 2012 in the western state of Rakhine. Many are believed to be trying to reach Muslim Malaysia. Rights groups have raised concern about alleged cases of boats being pushed back out to sea after entering Thai waters. They have also criticised the detention of hundreds of Rohingya in overcrowded facilities while Thailand waits for a "third country" to offer to take them. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Journalists-face-jail-in-Thailand-for-people-smugg-30231621.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pasathai1 Posted April 17, 2014 Report Share Posted April 17, 2014 I wonder if they will let their lawyers do the talking in court, of smart off to the judge like they do in their replies to readers that make opinions in their publication ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 It also struck me that they were not helping their case any. Nothing like pissing off a Thai to make him do the exact opposite of what you want. (I saw that early on in my time in LOS with the student protesters in 1976, who managed to alienate the people they should have been appealing to.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Munchmaster Posted April 18, 2014 Report Share Posted April 18, 2014 They could face up to two years’ imprisonment for defamation and five years for breaching the Computer Crimes Act, as well as a $3,100 fine. I love these types of sentence, 7 years in jail and a $3100 fine! Why bother mentioning the fine, it is totally irrelevant compared to spending 7 years in jail! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted April 19, 2014 Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Yep that mock hanging by the students gave Lahacholo (or whatever his name was?) the support to butcher the students if my memory serves me correctly.( which it probably doesn't ) I was "around intermittently " during that period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 Are you talking about the 6 October 1976 Thammasat Massacre? It was the presence of communists among the student protesters that set it off. The rightwing was able to paint all of the protesters as commies because of that, which of course they were not. Future Thaksinite PM Samak Sundaraej was calling on the radio for attacks on the protesters at the time. Lots of folks sort of forget that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted April 19, 2014 Author Report Share Posted April 19, 2014 I love these types of sentence, 7 years in jail and a $3100 fine! Why bother mentioning the fine, it is totally irrelevant compared to spending 7 years in jail! Prior to World War II, that was a lot of money. People bought things in satang, not baht. I'd have to look up the exact amount, but I think UK "extraterritorial judge" Gerald Sparrow wrote he was being paid 30 baht a month in the 1930s. One of my colleagues 25 years ago told me he remembered when his father made 60 baht a month as a secondary school teacher in the 1960s. Apparently, no one has bothered to update the fines in accordance with today's money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 Flash- Indeed Oct 6th 1976 very ugly- Besides the terrible massacre hmmmm the previous years were greattttt As I remember popular opinion had it they were all communists but then I remember the students had a mock hanging and the press got everyone riled up as they inferred it was auuuuu m well I can't say here but some one important and that gave the impetus for the guns and such. I have had an odd nack to be in weird places at well er odd times.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zzzz Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 This story remind me of General Westmoreland vs Mike Wallace for his coverage of him during the VN War. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westmoreland_v._CBS But here's the thing, if the Journalist has the facts to back up his story then the truth may be revealed in the courts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted April 20, 2014 Report Share Posted April 20, 2014 This is a sensible perception but too frequently the courts are not straight Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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