When freedom of speech is SLAPPED by law enforcement

[rooster59]

When freedom of speech is SLAPPED by law enforcement

By Pratch Rujivanarom 
The sunday Nation

 

 

Powerful are able to silence activists and citizens through misuse of law, seminar hears

 

Academics and experts on law and human rights have cautioned against the increasing trend of law enforcement to attempt to deter activism, and urged law reform aimed at preventing the launch of strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP).

 

Amnesty International Thailand and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) last Thursday held an academic seminar on SLAPP lawsuits, which are a legal mechanism being increasingly used against human-rights defenders and other civil-society organisations.

 

The forum discussion noted that the powerful interests usually behind launching SLAPP cases use a variety of legal strategies, including defamation lawsuits and even the Lese Majeste law.

 

Senior lawyer Saengchai Rattanasereewong suggested that SLAPP suites are an example of immoral application of legal rights. Everyone has a right to defend themselves, he explained, but in SLAPP cases the party that is causing social problems is the plaintiff claiming injury, and the party who is bringing the problems to people’s attention is put in the role of defendant.

 

“In these recent years, we have witnessed several cases of SLAPP, in which human rights activists, journalists, academics, and active citizens were sued for their actions disclosing problems and pushing for solutions to the problems caused by big companies or the authorities,” Saengchai said.

 

 

Defamation claims

 

“The trend is increasing and the activists, who work on political issues, also become victims of SLAPP by those using a series of laws such as the Public Assembly Act, Computer Crime Act, or the controversial Lese Majeste law.”

 

According to iLaw database, at least 443 lawsuits launched with intent to suppress freedom of expression, have been recorded. These cases included claims of defamation, causing panic, interfering with national stability, publicising illegal messages, defaming royal household members, or arranging public gatherings.

 

Saengchai noted that a SLAPP case has the distinctive feature of using any law to sue through the courts with its main purpose being to frighten activists and cause them difficulty to the point that they have to stop their action.

 

“A SLAPP lawsuit is a clear violation of human rights, because it forces people to stop campaigning for their rights,” he stressed.

 

Wichian Anprasert, lecturer at Ubon Ratchathani University, raised the example of lawsuits between local activists near a gold mine in Loei’s Wang Saphung District and Thung Kham Ltd. The suit is a clear case of SLAPP, he said, in which the company tried to stop the people’s campaign to save their local environment from gold mine pollution.

 

“I have gathered the information at Thung Kham gold mine and have recorded 21 cases against the local community since 2013. In total, 38 people were sued by using seven different laws and the total sum that the company asked from the people was up to Bt380 million,” Wichian said.

 

“Despite this, the people still carry on their fight to save the environment and their livelihoods. They suffer tremendously from the lawsuits because they have to travel to court and find evidence against the company, while also having to raise their families and make a living.”

 

He noted that people have to go to the court some six to 13 times for each lawsuit, and each court visit costs them money and time.

 

“The difficulty with proceeding through the justice system is that the main purpose of a SLAPP case is it intends to make the defendants too tired to fight, and so they agree to stop their activism on the plaintiff’s term,” he said.

 

NHRC commissioner Angkhana Neelaphaijit remarked that the NHRC has received several complaints related to SLAPP suits over the past 10 years. Sometimes the legal threats escalate into physical harm or even enforced disappearance.

 

“I’d like to urge the authorities to protect human-rights defenders from such threatening. They must not support any kind of violence against these activists, and must conduct full and transparent investigations to seek justice for them,” Angkhana emphasised.

 

She stressed that officers of justice system also have a responsibility to stop SLAPP cases from the beginning, by considering the indictment carefully and dropping SLAPP cases before they proceed to the court.

 

“It is very important to stop SLAPP cases at their beginning, because for ordinary people it is a very great deal to be sued in court – especially for the women, who also have a heavy burden to take care of the family,” she said.

 

Saengchai also argued that there should be reform of the Thai justice system, and the government should pass an anti-SLAPP law as an official legal tool against SLAPP cases.

 

“Moreover, the lawyers have to strictly adhere to the ethics of their profession and refuse to work on pursuing SLAPP cases,” he added.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/politics/30322931

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-08-06

[darksidedog]

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

 

“I’d like to urge the authorities to protect human-rights defenders from such threatening.

Good luck with that, it is the Authorities who are guilty of using it the most.

 

2 hours ago, rooster59 said:

“Moreover, the lawyers have to strictly adhere to the ethics of their profession and refuse to work on pursuing SLAPP cases,” he added.

Good luck with that too. Most of the lawyers here are as dishonest as the police and would sue their own Grandma without a second thought.

[yellowboat]

Unethical lawyers not accepting large retainers to sue some poor farmer ?  Not in the Thailand we all know.  Sadly, it just sounds like a lot of wishful thinking.

[Cadbury]

 

4 hours ago, rooster59 said:

“In these recent years, we have witnessed several cases of SLAPP, in which human rights activists, journalists, academics, and active citizens were sued for their actions disclosing problems and pushing for solutions to the problems caused by big companies or the authorities,” Saengchai said.

There seems to be something confusing about this part of the story. In another story today  (PM warns yellow shirts) PM Prayut Chan-o-cha unequivocally insisted......  

“It’s not that we shun freedom of expression” 

Now, which of the two claims could possibly be correct? I think I know who I believe. 

[Briggsy]

This issue is critically important to Thailand's development and the well-being of its people.

 

When the revealing of injustices and exploitation are suppressed by unjust laws, corrupt police and prosecutors and very compliant courts and judges who always support the powerful and wealthy, there are very few avenues other than Facebook for the public to push for positive change.

 

This SLAPPing is a key tool in the oppression of Thailand's people.

[248900_1469958220]

A few 'academics' isnt enough. I look around and see a huge mass of people too afraid to speak let alone act. I hope I am wrong and I have given up try to talk to people about such issues, admittedly for my own self preservation in some ways. I cannot gauge anymore what the person on the street truly thinks. Maybe its fear or maybe its just an acceptance that any power the people once  had is now lost. It seems its all being let slip away.......

[YetAnother]

24 minutes ago, Briggsy said:

This issue is critically important to Thailand's development and the well-being of its people.

 

When the revealing of injustices and exploitation are suppressed by unjust laws, corrupt police and prosecutors and very compliant courts and judges who always support the powerful and wealthy, there are very few avenues other than Facebook for the public to push for positive change.

 

This SLAPPing is a key tool in the oppression of Thailand's people.

agreed but where is the will ? the current govt is a military dictatorship,; no will there, quite the opposite, they encourage it; the succeeding ones, if there are any, will be weak; no where do i see any strong incentive to address SLAPPing; might get even worse;i very much agree that identifying the problem is the first step to solving it; yet,in this case, i believe that is as far as it will get

[Briggsy]

2 minutes ago, YetAnother said:

agreed but where is the will ? the current govt is a military dictatorship,; no will there, quite the opposite, they encourage it; the succeeding ones, if there are any, will be weak; no where do i see any strong incentive to address SLAPPing; might get even worse;i very much agree that identifying the problem is the first step to solving it; yet,in this case, i believe that is as far as it will get

I agree.

 

I see very little momentum for the reform of the Computer Crimes Act, the lese-majeste law, the offence of defamation. I see no sign that courts are becoming less compliant to the powerful or that they are throwing out cases whose aim is just to silence whistle-blowers, activists or those who expose the wrongdoing of the rich and powerful.

 

For that, you would need a more active civil society, a more representative administration, power less concentrated in the hands of a few families, a far more accessible and independent judiciary and a better-educated population. We are talking decades here.

[Lupatria]

1 hour ago, Briggsy said:

This issue is critically important to Thailand's development and the well-being of its people.

...the well-being of its people? So who should take care of this when the reality shows different:

 

[WhizBang]

Fat chance anything will change, or improve in Thailand.   In fact even the government brings these kind of lawsuits against people.  The army and navy suing journalists and activists for exposing their rotten cores, never mind every Hi-So in Thailand who gets caught out runs to the legal system to file lawsuits.

 

They say justice is blind.  Not in Thailand, here it is bound and gagged and run by vested interests with lots of money.

[sandemara]

An easy fix: legislation that provides for truth as a valid defence against such oppressive suits.

Unfortunately such integrity in a legal system requires a politician who is a statesman, not a coup maker or someone not obsessed with power, privilege and the riches  greed can visualise.

Somewhere, over the rainbow.

[Chris Lawrence]

Who are SLAPP. There has to be a group that are responsible? Out them as with others hiding behind the Generals sword. These are just bad people doing the devils work. The devil is fear.

[Srikcir]

56 minutes ago, sandemara said:

An easy fix: legislation that provides for truth as a valid defence against such oppressive suits.

Not an easy fix given the structure of government designed by the Prayut junta for the 2017 Constitution. The unelected Senate will be firmly loyal to the oligarchy, especially with direct appointments from the junta and including junta leadership and military officers. Any modernization or reform attempted by an elected House to liberalize freedom of expressions and political activism beyond that allowed by the oligarchy will be defeated by the Senate.