Thailand Asked To Drop Charges Against Reporters

Human Rights Watch has called on Thai authorities to drop all charges against two journalists who wrote a 2013 report suggesting the navy was involved in the trafficking of Muslim Rohingya through the country's south.



"The Thai authorities should direct the navy to unconditionally drop its baseless charges against the two journalists," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement late Friday.



"This effort to silence media criticism has backfired against the navy, which should act swiftly to cut its losses."



Australian national Alan Morison and Thai national Chutima Sidasathian were charged in April last year with defamation and violation of the Crime computer act.



If convicted, they could be imprisoned for seven years.



In an article published on Phuketwan news website in July 2013, the respective editor and journalist referred to a Reuters investigative report, and wrote that some Thai navy officials "work systematically with smugglers to profit from the surge in fleeing Rohingya."



The Rohingya are a Muslim ethnic group from Western Myanmar who have been fleeing the country in droves due to bloody clashes with Buddhist Rakhine - another ethnic group in the region - and the fact that the government refuses to recognize Rohingya as Myanmar nationals.



It instead wants them to refer to themselves as Bengali - a term suggesting they are illegal immigrants from Bangladesh.



To escape such abuses, the Rohingya usually pay smugglers to take them on rickety boats towards the Malaysian coast, but many of them are intercepted in southern Thailand where they are kept in hidden camps until their families pay a ransom for their release.



The Thai navy was incensed by the Phuketwan report and filed legal action against the two journalists.



In his statement, Adams lauded the two writers for their work in highlighting abuses suffered by Rohingya.



"The Phuketwan journalists are among the few who are still regularly reporting on the pervasive human trafficking of Rohingya in Thailand," Adams said.



"Thailand's efforts to show progress in tackling human trafficking are seriously damaged by this shoot-the-messenger action against journalists exposing abuses," he added.



On the back of a United States downgrade of Thailand to the lowest level on its people trafficking report in June of last year, the Thai junta said it has made the fight against human trafficking a top priority.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Krung Thep