BANGKOK (UCAN): Rights groups have condemned a decision by a Thai court to sentence a television journalist, Suchanee Cloitre, to two years in prison over a post on Twitter.
In late December, a provincial court in Lop Buri province in central Thailand, found the 30-year-old guilty of libelling an agribusiness company that stands accused of exploiting migrant workers from Myanmar at its chicken farm.
The company, Thammakaset, sued Cloitre over a tweet after a court ordered it to pay 1.7 million baht ($438,380) in compensation to 14 migrant workers for forcing them to work up to 20 hours a day with minimal pay.
In her tweet, Cloitre described the working conditions of the migrant workers as “slave labour,” which the company deemed defamatory.
Suchanee, who works for a Thai television station and remains free on bail, expressed shock at the “very harsh ruling.”
In an interview with foreign news media, she stressed that she was performing her duty as a journalist in reporting on the case and tweeting about it. “I didn’t intend to (defame) anyone,” she said.
Several rights groups have rallied to her side.
“In this David and Goliath case, the provincial court sided with Goliath, the poultry-rearing company Thammakaset, when it convicted Suchanee Cloitre of criminal defamation,” Reporters Without Borders said in a statement.
“We call on judges to recover a semblance of credibility by overturning Suchanee Cloitre’s absurd conviction on appeal,” said Daniel Bastard, the head of the group’s Asia-Pacific desk.
“This grossly unfair sentence has the hallmarks of a justice system that despises journalistic freedom and sides with the powerful. It seems to have the sole intention of intimidating all of Thailand’s journalists.”
In last year’s World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders, Thailand was ranked 136th out of 180 countries.
The country’s stringent defamation laws are routinely abused by powerful interests to try to silence critics, rights advocates say.
Thammakaset itself has filed several other defamation suits over the case, including one last October against prominent rights advocate, Angkhana Neelapaijit, over two of her posts on Twitter regarding the same case. If found guilty, Angkhana could face up to three years in prison.
Cloitre says the court’s decision against her will serve to further curtail freedom of speech in Thailand.
“I think the verdict will have an effect on Thai media,” she said. “They will have to be much more careful when reporting any story.”
