Court acquits Australian and Thai journalists of criminal defamation in ‘vitally important case’

An Australian journalist and a Thai journalist have both been acquitted of criminal defamation charges by a Phuket Court.

The Thai Navy took Australian Alan Morrison and and Thai Chutima Sidasethian to court over a republished Reuters report covering the smuggling of Rohingya migrants which suggested Thai Navy involvement. The Navy used a law known as the Computer Crimes Act to file a defamation suit against the pair.

Morrison and Sidasethian were acquitted by the Phuket Provincial Court today, with judge saying it is not appropriate for authorities to use the Computer Crimes Act as a way of punishing journalists for defamation as this law relates to hacking and malicious software.

In delivering his verdict, Justice Chaipthawat Chaya-ananphat said Sidasathian and Morrison were merely reporting what Reuters had already published and they were not their own words.