PHUKET: The Phuket Prosecutor's office has asked for an extension of 30 more days in which to consider an appeal against the verdict dismissing all charges in the Phuketwan case. A judge is expected to respond early next week, possibly as soon as Monday.
The request is made in a letter dated December 28. The author of the letter may have been unaware of a previous notation from a Phuket judge that the extension granted in November would be the final extension of time in which to lodge an appeal.
According to court officials, up to five 30-day extensions can be sought. In the hand-written note on the request in November for the second extension, the judge appears to have signalled that in the Phuketwan case, a third extension is not warranted.
A verdict at Phuket Provincial Court on September 1 dismissing all charges against journalists Alan Morison, Chutima Sidasathian and Phuketwan's parent company, Big Island Media, was hailed at the time as a victory for Thai justice and media freedom.
The verdict seemingly brought to an end a case in which the Royal Thai Navy initiated criminal defamation and computer crimes allegations that carried a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.
The Navy cited a paragraph written by Reuters' journalists that first appeared in a feature on Rohingya trafficking and was reproduced word-for-word on Phuketwan. Reuters later won a Pulitzer Prize for a series that included the paragraph.
Ironically, Phuketwan shuts for good at midnight on December 31 after eight years of reporting on Phuket and the region. Corruption, the safety of tourists and residents, environmental issues and the human trafficking of Rohingya from Myanmar (Burma) have been the topics most frequently covered by Morison, Khun Chutima and other staff.
Early in February, Khun Chutima is taking up an invitation to contribute to an international conference at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.
The conference, 'News Organisations Standing Up For the Safety of Media Professionals,' has the support of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, the International Federation of Journalists, the European Broadcasting Union, the International Press Institute and the International Women's Media Foundation.
Morison will be going to Australia, where he was recently the recipient of a Freedom Award from Anti-Slavery Australia, and where he expects to be interviewed by media outlets about the trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshis through Thailand and South East Asia.
Coincidentally, the chief investigator in Thailand's human trafficking investigation, former Royal Thai Police Major General Paween Pongsirin, is now seeking asylum in Australia.
The major general says the investigation was brought to an abrupt halt after five months and he was forced to flee Thailand soon after because of threats to his life. Major General Paween was regarded as one of the most honest and hard-working investigators in Thailand's police force.
His investigation began after the discovery in May of graves near secret jungle camps along the Thai-Malaysia border, where thousands of Rohingya and more recently Bangladeshis had been held for ransom, beaten, raped and in some cases murdered.
At the same time as the graves were being exhumed, hundreds of boatpeople - men, women and children - were photographed in distressing conditions at sea off the coast of Thailand and in other parts of South East Asia.
Rohingya whistleblowers later led a team from Australia's 'Four Corners' television program to more graves near the home of an alleged human trafficking kingpin in southern Thailand, but the graves remain unexhumed and the accusations have not been investigated.
The government of Thailand has expressed the desire for Thailand to be lifted from Tier 3 - the bottom rung - of the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons ladder next year.
But if Major General Paween and others with knowledge of the trafficking networks are to be believed, many more suspects have yet to be investigated and accused.
''Over the years that Phuketwan reported on the hideous trade in people through Thailand, the industry grew with little or no enforcement,'' Morison said. ''Dealers changed from selling drugs to trading in humans because there was no danger of arrest or punishment. This was a huge business.
''It would be shameful and tragic for Thailand if anyone in a position of authority today escaped scot-free for their part in what is clearly a crime against humanity.''
WATCH Thailand's Moment of Truth - Dateline
The Dateline documentary team from SBS Australia shared the three-day trial of Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian with participants for a show full of revealing insights.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/thailands-moment-truth
WATCH Shallow Graves - Channel News Asia
How a good cop helped Thailand turned the tables on trafficking, a nightmare that may not yet be over.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/tv/tvshows/getreal-s14/shallow-graves/2236290.html
WATCH Al Jazeera Investigates - Genocide Agenda
A frightening look at what's happening in Myanmar (Burma) where documents reveal a plan to exterminate all Rohingya.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrQRYrpp2cI
WATCH Journey into Hell - Four Corners
From Burma through Thailand, an award-winning current affairs team traces official complicity in the brutal treatment of the Rohingya and Phuketwan's part in its exposure.
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2015/06/22/4257490.htm
WATCH How Trafficking Works
Phuketwan Investigative reporter Chutima Sidasathian says of traficking in 2014: ''It's worse and worse, day by day. Nobody cares''.
http://journeyman.tv/67116/short-films/rohingya-hd.html
LISTEN The Rohingya Solution
A tragedy almost beyond words has been unfolding in Thailand, where a human smuggling network is thriving with the full knowledge of some corrupt law enforcement officers. Alan Morison of Phuketwan talks to Australia's AM program.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4231108.htm
The request is made in a letter dated December 28. The author of the letter may have been unaware of a previous notation from a Phuket judge that the extension granted in November would be the final extension of time in which to lodge an appeal.
According to court officials, up to five 30-day extensions can be sought. In the hand-written note on the request in November for the second extension, the judge appears to have signalled that in the Phuketwan case, a third extension is not warranted.
A verdict at Phuket Provincial Court on September 1 dismissing all charges against journalists Alan Morison, Chutima Sidasathian and Phuketwan's parent company, Big Island Media, was hailed at the time as a victory for Thai justice and media freedom.
The verdict seemingly brought to an end a case in which the Royal Thai Navy initiated criminal defamation and computer crimes allegations that carried a maximum penalty of seven years in jail.
The Navy cited a paragraph written by Reuters' journalists that first appeared in a feature on Rohingya trafficking and was reproduced word-for-word on Phuketwan. Reuters later won a Pulitzer Prize for a series that included the paragraph.
Ironically, Phuketwan shuts for good at midnight on December 31 after eight years of reporting on Phuket and the region. Corruption, the safety of tourists and residents, environmental issues and the human trafficking of Rohingya from Myanmar (Burma) have been the topics most frequently covered by Morison, Khun Chutima and other staff.
Early in February, Khun Chutima is taking up an invitation to contribute to an international conference at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France.
The conference, 'News Organisations Standing Up For the Safety of Media Professionals,' has the support of the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers, the International Federation of Journalists, the European Broadcasting Union, the International Press Institute and the International Women's Media Foundation.
Morison will be going to Australia, where he was recently the recipient of a Freedom Award from Anti-Slavery Australia, and where he expects to be interviewed by media outlets about the trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshis through Thailand and South East Asia.
Coincidentally, the chief investigator in Thailand's human trafficking investigation, former Royal Thai Police Major General Paween Pongsirin, is now seeking asylum in Australia.
The major general says the investigation was brought to an abrupt halt after five months and he was forced to flee Thailand soon after because of threats to his life. Major General Paween was regarded as one of the most honest and hard-working investigators in Thailand's police force.
His investigation began after the discovery in May of graves near secret jungle camps along the Thai-Malaysia border, where thousands of Rohingya and more recently Bangladeshis had been held for ransom, beaten, raped and in some cases murdered.
At the same time as the graves were being exhumed, hundreds of boatpeople - men, women and children - were photographed in distressing conditions at sea off the coast of Thailand and in other parts of South East Asia.
Rohingya whistleblowers later led a team from Australia's 'Four Corners' television program to more graves near the home of an alleged human trafficking kingpin in southern Thailand, but the graves remain unexhumed and the accusations have not been investigated.
The government of Thailand has expressed the desire for Thailand to be lifted from Tier 3 - the bottom rung - of the US State Department's Trafficking in Persons ladder next year.
But if Major General Paween and others with knowledge of the trafficking networks are to be believed, many more suspects have yet to be investigated and accused.
''Over the years that Phuketwan reported on the hideous trade in people through Thailand, the industry grew with little or no enforcement,'' Morison said. ''Dealers changed from selling drugs to trading in humans because there was no danger of arrest or punishment. This was a huge business.
''It would be shameful and tragic for Thailand if anyone in a position of authority today escaped scot-free for their part in what is clearly a crime against humanity.''
WATCH Thailand's Moment of Truth - Dateline
The Dateline documentary team from SBS Australia shared the three-day trial of Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian with participants for a show full of revealing insights.
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/thailands-moment-truth
WATCH Shallow Graves - Channel News Asia
How a good cop helped Thailand turned the tables on trafficking, a nightmare that may not yet be over.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/tv/tvshows/getreal-s14/shallow-graves/2236290.html
WATCH Al Jazeera Investigates - Genocide Agenda
A frightening look at what's happening in Myanmar (Burma) where documents reveal a plan to exterminate all Rohingya.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrQRYrpp2cI
WATCH Journey into Hell - Four Corners
From Burma through Thailand, an award-winning current affairs team traces official complicity in the brutal treatment of the Rohingya and Phuketwan's part in its exposure.
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2015/06/22/4257490.htm
WATCH How Trafficking Works
Phuketwan Investigative reporter Chutima Sidasathian says of traficking in 2014: ''It's worse and worse, day by day. Nobody cares''.
http://journeyman.tv/67116/short-films/rohingya-hd.html
LISTEN The Rohingya Solution
A tragedy almost beyond words has been unfolding in Thailand, where a human smuggling network is thriving with the full knowledge of some corrupt law enforcement officers. Alan Morison of Phuketwan talks to Australia's AM program.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4231108.htm
For what it's worth Alan and Khun Oi .. Happy New Year!
Posted by Ian Yarwood on December 30, 2015 18:56
Editor Comment:
Thanks, Ian. Likewise to you . . .