Saying the government’s campaign against media and activists are stifling free expression, The Lawyers Council of Thailand urged it to drop all defamation cases today.
In a year that has seen activists, researchers and journalists charged for criminal defamation and the Computer Crimes Act, Surapong Kongchantuk of the council’s human rights committee said defamation been used as a weapon to silence those who reveal controversial albeit necessary information.
Prominent cases include suits against Phuketwan reporters Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian for citing an award-winning Reuters report on Rohingya refugees in their publication, as well as a fruit company’s case against British labor rights activist Andy Hall.
Both had worked to expose the plight of migrants and workers in Thailand, Bangkok Post reported.
“[The plaintiffs] claim they are doing this to protect themselves, but society does not see it that way. Society sees it as an intimidation,” Surapong said Monday at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand.
“The government has a duty to ensure freedom of expression is upheld. This is what measures the extent of democracy and peace.”
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