Journalists face jail in Thailand for people-smuggler report

[Lite Beer]

Journalists face jail in Thailand for people-smuggler report

Australian Alan Morison and his Thai colleague

Chutima Sidasathian. File photo: smh.com.au

BANGKOK, April 16, 2014 (AFP) - 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.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-04-16

[tingtongdingdong]

Thailand = no free press.

[rkidlad]

How dare the expose the truth.

[WoopyDoo]

Shouldn't the military first PROVE that they are not implicated in people smuggling before they gag reporters?0

They put reporters in prison and that will just put a huge international focus on the situation and instigate investigations that may actually one day PROVE the reporters were right.

[geriatrickid]

This idiocy is brought to you courtesy of the Royal Thailand Navy which also allowed its personnel to engage in freelance work on behalf of the PDRC.

The RTN is not accountable to the people of Thailand and has repeatedly stated that it does not answer to a civilian government. This is what Suthep and his supporters are part of.

[Just1Voice]

Shouldn't the military first PROVE that they are not implicated in people smuggling before they gag reporters?0

They put reporters in prison and that will just put a huge international focus on the situation and instigate investigations that may actually one day PROVE the reporters were right.

You're missing the point. They are THAI MILITARY, which means they don't have to prove or disprove anything. What they say is always right, even when it's totally wrong.

Edited April 16, 2014 by Just1Voice

[bigbamboo]

This idiocy is brought to you courtesy of the Royal Thailand Navy which also allowed its personnel to engage in freelance work on behalf of the PDRC.

The RTN is not accountable to the people of Thailand and has repeatedly stated that it does not answer to a civilian government. This is what Suthep and his supporters are part of.

Remind me again, who is the Minister of Defence?

Party politics aside this another national embarrassment.

Thaksin shouldn't have worried. If the UN was Thailand's father it would have been disowned by now.

[WitawatWatawit]

Shouldn't the military first PROVE that they are not implicated in people smuggling before they gag reporters?0

They put reporters in prison and that will just put a huge international focus on the situation and instigate investigations that may actually one day PROVE the reporters were right.

You're missing the point. They are THAI MILITARY, which means they don't have to prove or disprove anything. What they say is always right, even when it's totally wrong.

Both posts duly noted and appreciated. What dinosaurs like the Thai navy fail to understand is that sometimes anecdotal evidence has a grain of truth to it. As such, there is a stain on the navy and it's there for the world to see, and no trickery pokery by them can ever hide it. They should never have launched this lawsuit, but now that they have, they can never go back on it. Their bad. Their very bad. If they continue with it, they risk being on a hiding to nothing in every legal, political, social aspect you can think of. If they suddenly decide to be "magnanimous" and drop the case, they WILL suffer a major blow to their credibility. No one is ever going to believe them that they are putting themselves up as the "good guy", because the stain can't be washed away. In this case, they've been selective about who to sue - the small guy. I'm waiting to see how Reuters, the Committee to Protect Journalists et al respond during the trial. For some (perhaps not the CPJ), they don't have a good track record of protecting the "small guy".

[Bluespunk]

The truth shall take your freedom away.

[Rupert2]

Snuggler report

[JohnThailandJohn]

Are they "alleging Thai military links to people-smuggling" without anything to back it up? Anybody have a link to the original story?

[tingtong]

The truth shall take your freedom away.

Ironically, in a country that so much pride itself on its so called freedom, that was named after it.

[dcutman]

This idiocy is brought to you courtesy of the Royal Thailand Navy which also allowed its personnel to engage in freelance work on behalf of the PDRC.

The RTN is not accountable to the people of Thailand and has repeatedly stated that it does not answer to a civilian government. This is what Suthep and his supporters are part of.

Obviously you did not read this report. Not only was the RTN implicated, the RTP is right in there with them. Witch we all know who protects this bunch. Before you open your yap, you should make sure of all the facts. Because now all of you Red Shirt ilk support this as well.

[JohnThailandJohn]

Shouldn't the military first PROVE that they are not implicated in people smuggling before they gag reporters?0

If they are involved they should be called out and held to task but do you really suggest that reporters should be able to print things without proof or facts and it should be up to the person they are accusing to prove their innocence? And how would they be able to prove this is not true without filing a suit like this?

The original article would be interesting to read to see if they are accusing the military of involvement or if they are accusing members of the military, acting on their own, of being involved ... huge difference. I would suspect they possibly have accused the military as a whole if the military takes issue with this. Be like accusing the UK or the USA of involvement if a few of their citizens were involved ... you would need to have more proof than simply having individuals involved.

[dcutman]

Are they "alleging Thai military links to people-smuggling" without anything to back it up? Anybody have a link to the original story?

Yeh its called GOOGLE.COM

[WitawatWatawit]

Shouldn't the military first PROVE that they are not implicated in people smuggling before they gag reporters?0

If they are involved they should be called out and held to task but do you really suggest that reporters should be able to print things without proof or facts and it should be up to the person they are accusing to prove their innocence? And how would they be able to prove this is not true without filing a suit like this?

The original article would be interesting to read to see if they are accusing the military of involvement or if they are accusing members of the military, acting on their own, of being involved ... huge difference. I would suspect they possibly have accused the military as a whole if the military takes issue with this. Be like accusing the UK or the USA of involvement if a few of their citizens were involved ... you would need to have more proof than simply having individuals involved.

The accusation in this case involves only a branch of the military - the navy. Please get this right.

"... but do you really suggest that reporters should be able to print things without proof or facts and it should be up to the person they are accusing to prove their innocence?"

Too true, but in a society that can easily suppress and subjugate accusers through the use of the computer crimes act, then please tell me how you are able to get access to and comment on information without actually knowing anything about it? If there's smoke, then someone has to ask, "where is the fire?" Supposition, rumour and hearsay form an important part of any society, and that's undeniable. It happens within your own personal sphere of influence (such as family), yet you do your best to sift through the clutter to get to the truth. Don't you? On the national stage it gets very convoluted, and lies and untruths are part of a spaghetti bolognaise, But sometimes you have to believe the messenger, not shoot him.

[GentlemanJim]

This idiocy is brought to you courtesy of the Royal Thailand Navy which also allowed its personnel to engage in freelance work on behalf of the PDRC.

The RTN is not accountable to the people of Thailand and has repeatedly stated that it does not answer to a civilian government. This is what Suthep and his supporters are part of.

How utterly astonishing that you try and twist this story around to a PDRC/Suthep slag match. With posts like that you lose bucket loads of street cred at a time. It is because of posts of the nature displayed above that people on this site continually refer to the concept of 'must have been paid to post', an angle many people resort to when the contents of a post are so unbelievably trollish in nature. Shame on you GK.

[JohnThailandJohn]

Shouldn't the military first PROVE that they are not implicated in people smuggling before they gag reporters?0

If they are involved they should be called out and held to task but do you really suggest that reporters should be able to print things without proof or facts and it should be up to the person they are accusing to prove their innocence? And how would they be able to prove this is not true without filing a suit like this?

The original article would be interesting to read to see if they are accusing the military of involvement or if they are accusing members of the military, acting on their own, of being involved ... huge difference. I would suspect they possibly have accused the military as a whole if the military takes issue with this. Be like accusing the UK or the USA of involvement if a few of their citizens were involved ... you would need to have more proof than simply having individuals involved.

The accusation in this case involves only a branch of the military - the navy. Please get this right.

"... but do you really suggest that reporters should be able to print things without proof or facts and it should be up to the person they are accusing to prove their innocence?"

Too true, but in a society that can easily suppress and subjugate accusers through the use of the computer crimes act, then please tell me how you are able to get access to and comment on information without actually knowing anything about it? If there's smoke, then someone has to ask, "where is the fire?" Supposition, rumour and hearsay form an important part of any society, and that's undeniable. It happens within your own personal sphere of influence (such as family), yet you do your best to sift through the clutter to get to the truth. Don't you? On the national stage it gets very convoluted, and lies and untruths are part of a spaghetti bolognaise, But sometimes you have to believe the messenger, not shoot him.

First of all you used the word military and I simply repeated it. The point being if they are accusing the military or branch of the military as a whole or just individuals acting on their own. As I said, HUGE difference.

Rumors are just that and shouldn't be reported as fact. My guess is if they reported this as unconfirmed rumors then they would not be having issues now but reporting rumors, hearsay and speculation as fact is asking for trouble, as it should be. As for the messenger, I expect journalists to back up their stories with facts if I am to believe them when making serious charges against a person or entity. It is by far not just Thailand where media, controlled by big business or politics, manipulates the masses to put across their agenda. If they references something that was written by another reputable news agency and made clear it came from that source and they don't have other collaboration of this then I too think they shouldn't be in trouble and it would be unjust for them to be gone after.

I am only talking in general terms since I have not seen the original article to know what was written and I suspect there are individuals within every branch of the military (not just in this country) involved in illegal activities be it smuggling people, drugs or guns but would want some real proof before I entertained that any branch of the military as a whole was involved and I would expect for leaders of each branch to defend vigorously by all legal means any untrue serious accusations like this levied against them if they are untrue.

Edited April 16, 2014 by JohnThailandJohn

[Thai at Heart]

Shouldn't the military first PROVE that they are not implicated in people smuggling before they gag reporters?0

If they are involved they should be called out and held to task but do you really suggest that reporters should be able to print things without proof or facts and it should be up to the person they are accusing to prove their innocence? And how would they be able to prove this is not true without filing a suit like this?

The original article would be interesting to read to see if they are accusing the military of involvement or if they are accusing members of the military, acting on their own, of being involved ... huge difference. I would suspect they possibly have accused the military as a whole if the military takes issue with this. Be like accusing the UK or the USA of involvement if a few of their citizens were involved ... you would need to have more proof than simply having individuals involved.

The accusation in this case involves only a branch of the military - the navy. Please get this right.

"... but do you really suggest that reporters should be able to print things without proof or facts and it should be up to the person they are accusing to prove their innocence?"

Too true, but in a society that can easily suppress and subjugate accusers through the use of the computer crimes act, then please tell me how you are able to get access to and comment on information without actually knowing anything about it? If there's smoke, then someone has to ask, "where is the fire?" Supposition, rumour and hearsay form an important part of any society, and that's undeniable. It happens within your own personal sphere of influence (such as family), yet you do your best to sift through the clutter to get to the truth. Don't you? On the national stage it gets very convoluted, and lies and untruths are part of a spaghetti bolognaise, But sometimes you have to believe the messenger, not shoot him.

First of all you used the word military and I simply repeated it. The point being if they are accusing the military or branch of the military as a whole or just individuals acting on their own. As I said, HUGE difference.

Rumors are just that and shouldn't be reported as fact. My guess is if they reported this as unconfirmed rumors then they would not be having issues now but reporting rumors, hearsay and speculation as fact is asking for trouble, as it should be. As for the messenger, I expect journalists to back up their stories with facts if I am to believe them when making serious charges against a person or entity. It is by far not just Thailand where media, controlled by big business or politics, manipulates the masses to put across their agenda. If they references something that was written by another reputable news agency and made clear it came from that source and they don't have other collaboration of this then I too think they shouldn't be in trouble and it would be unjust for them to be gone after.

I am only talking in general terms since I have not seen the original article to know what was written and I suspect there are individuals within every branch of the military (not just in this country) involved in illegal activities be it smuggling people, drugs or guns but would want some real proof before I entertained that any branch of the military as a whole was involved and I would expect for leaders of each branch to defend vigorously by all legal means any untrue serious accusations like this levied against them if they are untrue.

They just copied a story that was available elsewhere. It is a nonsense charge.

If someone reads the story and repeats it to someone, is that illegal? Ridiculous.

[noitom]

This incident and case is shameful. The international community should take note of Thailand's censorship and oppressive laws regarding defamation and freedom of the press. World wide support and protest should be initiated at Thai embassies around the world if these folks are found guilty of any charges.

[JohnThailandJohn]

They just copied a story that was available elsewhere. It is a nonsense charge.

If someone reads the story and repeats it to someone, is that illegal? Ridiculous.

On face value would agree but have not seen the original article ... did some quick searches and just come up with stories related to this but none have the link to the original story. If there was serious accusations against the Navy as a whole then I think a news agency needs to verify the account before reprinting or at least make clear the info is coming from another source and link to that source. Repeating a Reuters new story would seem fairly safe in terms of general credibility but I do think news agencies should do better at simply repeating others are reporting. It seems to be a common thing now in the US when one agency reports something incorrectly most others follow suit in reporting the same incorrect info. Sadly,the correction rarely gets the same coverage as the initial incorrect facts.

With that said, I don't believe libel should be a criminal charge unless it was done knowing the info was false and with the intent to cause harm to another. At the same time, it really has become a world where few new outlets can be trusted to report non-biased stories. The vast majority of media outlets seems to be controlled by people with their own agendas be it big corporations, governments or even smaller outlets where they simply want to use misleading headlines or leave out facts to make stories more interesting and increase readership.

[simple1]

They just copied a story that was available elsewhere. It is a nonsense charge.

If someone reads the story and repeats it to someone, is that illegal? Ridiculous.

On face value would agree but have not seen the original article ... did some quick searches and just come up with stories related to this but none have the link to the original story. If there was serious accusations against the Navy as a whole then I think a news agency needs to verify the account before reprinting or at least make clear the info is coming from another source and link to that source. Repeating a Reuters new story would seem fairly safe in terms of general credibility but I do think news agencies should do better at simply repeating others are reporting. It seems to be a common thing now in the US when one agency reports something incorrectly most others follow suit in reporting the same incorrect info. Sadly,the correction rarely gets the same coverage as the initial incorrect facts.

With that said, I don't believe libel should be a criminal charge unless it was done knowing the info was false and with the intent to cause harm to another. At the same time, it really has become a world where few new outlets can be trusted to report non-biased stories. The vast majority of media outlets seems to be controlled by people with their own agendas be it big corporations, governments or even smaller outlets where they simply want to use misleading headlines or leave out facts to make stories more interesting and increase readership.

Have a look at the libel & defamation laws in Thailand. Even if the article is proven to be factual, the authors can still be fined/imprisoned due to damage to the reputation of Thailand and so on. In addition, the Thai Computer Crimes Act is utilsed as a tool for repression of the media and the public of 'free speach'; one of the reasons why there is minimal investigative reporting in Thailand. As mentioned above the orginal article was published by Reuters who have received an international award for the reporting. Reuters have yet to be called to account by Thai government agencies for their reporting.

Edited April 16, 2014 by simple1

[JohnThailandJohn]

A spokesperson for Reuters told CNN: ''We wish to emphasize that Reuters' story does not single out the Thai Royal Navy, but explores the responsibility of all involved in patrolling the Thai seas and provides their perspectives.'' See: http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/14/world/asia/thailand-phuketwan-media-defamation-court/

Also a link the Reuters story which includes denials from both the Inidan and Thai navy of involvement - http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/17/us-myanmar-exodus-specialreport-idUSBRE96G02520130717

According to CNN, they are accused of "knowingly publishing false information and committing slander"

Still no sign of the Phuketwan article link to see what they actually repeated, added, changed or left out of the Reuters story.

[Thai at Heart]

They just copied a story that was available elsewhere. It is a nonsense charge.

If someone reads the story and repeats it to someone, is that illegal? Ridiculous.

On face value would agree but have not seen the original article ... did some quick searches and just come up with stories related to this but none have the link to the original story. If there was serious accusations against the Navy as a whole then I think a news agency needs to verify the account before reprinting or at least make clear the info is coming from another source and link to that source. Repeating a Reuters new story would seem fairly safe in terms of general credibility but I do think news agencies should do better at simply repeating others are reporting. It seems to be a common thing now in the US when one agency reports something incorrectly most others follow suit in reporting the same incorrect info. Sadly,the correction rarely gets the same coverage as the initial incorrect facts.

With that said, I don't believe libel should be a criminal charge unless it was done knowing the info was false and with the intent to cause harm to another. At the same time, it really has become a world where few new outlets can be trusted to report non-biased stories. The vast majority of media outlets seems to be controlled by people with their own agendas be it big corporations, governments or even smaller outlets where they simply want to use misleading headlines or leave out facts to make stories more interesting and increase readership.

Technically, thaivisa would be in breach for repeating the story.

[Somtamnication]

Surreal. But these people knew better. Don't be a journalist in Thailand and expect freedom. Even Jon Stewart would be arrested for his comedian antics if he did what he does in Thailand.

[rhythmworx]

Maybe Drummond will further report on this matter.

[Langsuan Man]

For those Google challenged here is the Reuters story (at least the online version)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/07/17/us-myanmar-exodus-specialreport-idUSBRE96G02520130717

What I find interesting is that there are Reuters journalists, based in Bangkok, that are named in the article yet the Thai Navy did not go after them.

[A1Str8]

I see the truth still hurts!

Sent from my GT-I9500 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[aussieinthailand]

I'd like to know just what the Aust embassy is doing to help it's citizen? wait there needs to be political will for that, is this being reported in Aust news?

[Morakot]

Shouldn't the military first PROVE that they are not implicated in people smuggling before they gag reporters?0

Sadly, this is not necessary...

This is a defamation case that allegedly the Navy's reputation has been tainted. The warped application of defamation law in Thailand --for political and personal ends-- has currently taken a shape where it almost does not matter any more whether sometime is true or not, as long as one can "prove" that speech or writing may have (intangibly) affected one's reputation.

Many people outside Thailand see this as an alarming development.

Edited April 17, 2014 by Morakot