PHUKET: Journalists from Phuketwan are scheduled to meet a representative from the Royal Thai Navy at the National Human Rights Commission in Bangkok tomorrow.
It's the first time the two parties have met since a Royal Thai Navy captain lodged a complaint with Phuket police against reporter Chutima Sidasathian and editor Alan Morison alleging criminal defamation and a breach of the Computer Crimes Act on July 17 last year.
A mediation meeting was scheduled for May but the military took control of Thailand the previous day and the event was cancelled.
The trial of Morison and Khun Chutima has since begun at Phuket Provincial Court with three more days of hearings scheduled for March next year.
The court action concerns a 41-word paragraph from a Reuters special report on Rohingya boatpeople. Both the Reuters report and the Phuketwan article republishing the Reuters paragraph appeared on July 17, the day the Navy complaint was lodged.
Reuters and the two authors of the original 41-word paragraph have not been charged. The news agency and its reporters went on to win the prestigious Pulitzer prize and were honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards for their investigative special reports on the Rohingya.
The Phuketwan journalists shared two similar SOPA awards in 2010 for their work with the South China Morining Post newspaper in exposing the military pushbacks of hundreds of Rohingya from Thailand.
In June, Thailand was downgraded to Tier 3, the bottom level, in the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons report.
Reuters' coverage and the criminal defamation action by the Royal Thai Navy were mentioned in passing more than once in the TIP report.
Morison's Australian passport was confiscated by the court in April when Morison and Khun Chutima spent five hours in the court cells awaiting a decision on bail.
Although both are free on sureties of 100,000 baht each and Khun Chutima has since travelled to Australia, Morison remains effectively a prisoner in Thailand, unable to visit his 90-year-old father, his children or a two-year-old grandchild.
Morison's Immigration B visa has also been cancelled. When Morison's work permit becomes due for renewal in February, it will also be cancelled because his Immigration B visa has been cancelled.
This means that Phuketwan will be forced to cease publishing a few weeks before the trial resumes in March.
The military versus media court action using the controversial Computer Crimes Act and criminal defamation is unprecedented in Thailand.
Morison and Khun Chutima say they have done nothing wrong. They say that with warships at bases on Phuket and in the neighboring province of Phang Nga, they have always admired the Royal Thai Navy, especially for its rescue work with tourists, and even defended the service from accusations in 2009 that it was involved in the military pushbacks.
They say they intend to continue covering the Rohingya issue until Phuketwan is forced to close.
An offer for the Royal Thai Navy to express its view on the Rohingya issue or on the court case in Phuketwan, without editing or a response, has yet to be taken up by the service.
It's the first time the two parties have met since a Royal Thai Navy captain lodged a complaint with Phuket police against reporter Chutima Sidasathian and editor Alan Morison alleging criminal defamation and a breach of the Computer Crimes Act on July 17 last year.
A mediation meeting was scheduled for May but the military took control of Thailand the previous day and the event was cancelled.
The trial of Morison and Khun Chutima has since begun at Phuket Provincial Court with three more days of hearings scheduled for March next year.
The court action concerns a 41-word paragraph from a Reuters special report on Rohingya boatpeople. Both the Reuters report and the Phuketwan article republishing the Reuters paragraph appeared on July 17, the day the Navy complaint was lodged.
Reuters and the two authors of the original 41-word paragraph have not been charged. The news agency and its reporters went on to win the prestigious Pulitzer prize and were honored at the Society of Publishers in Asia awards for their investigative special reports on the Rohingya.
The Phuketwan journalists shared two similar SOPA awards in 2010 for their work with the South China Morining Post newspaper in exposing the military pushbacks of hundreds of Rohingya from Thailand.
In June, Thailand was downgraded to Tier 3, the bottom level, in the US State Department's annual Trafficking in Persons report.
Reuters' coverage and the criminal defamation action by the Royal Thai Navy were mentioned in passing more than once in the TIP report.
Morison's Australian passport was confiscated by the court in April when Morison and Khun Chutima spent five hours in the court cells awaiting a decision on bail.
Although both are free on sureties of 100,000 baht each and Khun Chutima has since travelled to Australia, Morison remains effectively a prisoner in Thailand, unable to visit his 90-year-old father, his children or a two-year-old grandchild.
Morison's Immigration B visa has also been cancelled. When Morison's work permit becomes due for renewal in February, it will also be cancelled because his Immigration B visa has been cancelled.
This means that Phuketwan will be forced to cease publishing a few weeks before the trial resumes in March.
The military versus media court action using the controversial Computer Crimes Act and criminal defamation is unprecedented in Thailand.
Morison and Khun Chutima say they have done nothing wrong. They say that with warships at bases on Phuket and in the neighboring province of Phang Nga, they have always admired the Royal Thai Navy, especially for its rescue work with tourists, and even defended the service from accusations in 2009 that it was involved in the military pushbacks.
They say they intend to continue covering the Rohingya issue until Phuketwan is forced to close.
An offer for the Royal Thai Navy to express its view on the Rohingya issue or on the court case in Phuketwan, without editing or a response, has yet to be taken up by the service.
ED, i would go see a lawyer because: If your visa is cancelled you are on an overstay. Are you allowed to work while on overstay ? Is your work permit still valid without a visa ?
Posted by FS on July 6, 2014 18:18
Editor Comment:
Immigration now extends my stay every three months, as the court requests them to do. The work permit remains valid. I am not likely to be deported.