Even with the clout of the UN on his side, Phuket-based journalist Alan Morison says he would rather go to prison in defence of media freedom than flee the country as he battles a defamation suit launched by the Royal Thai Navy.
PLUCKY PAIR: Phuketwan editor Alan Morison and journalist Chutima Sidasathian.
Morison and Chutima Sidasathian, both journalists at the online news outlet Phuketwan, were charged on Christmas eve with criminal libel and breaching the Computer Crimes Act (CCA) for an article published on July 17.
The article allegedly damaged the reputation of the navy by quoting a paragraph from a report by Reuters looking at the smuggling of Rohingya migrants in Thailand.
The case is believed to be the first time any branch of the military has used the CCA to file criminal defamation charges against a media outlet.
Morison and Chutima were interviewed for three hours at Vichit police station in Phuket and face up to two years' imprisonment for defamation and five years for breaching the CCA.
But a defiant Morison told Bangkok Post Sunday that "we're prepared to go to jail for the principle of media freedom".
"We're not prepared to go to jail on a trumped-up royal charge invented by the Royal Thai Navy. I think the principles in the case are pretty obvious."
On Friday, UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani urged the government to drop the charges against Morison and Chutima.
Her statement said "criminal prosecution for defamation has a chilling effect on freedom of the press, and international standards are clear that imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty for defamation".
"The criminal charges against Mr Morison and Ms Chutima could have serious implications on Phuketwan's future operations, possibly compromising its ability to report on issues related to Rohingya asylum seekers to the public."
Morison said that "we would hope the government and the navy would take what the UN has said to heart".
"There is no reason to pursue Phuketwan over a paragraph that came from a Reuters special report. We believe the paragraph was poorly translated from English into Thai as well," he said.
Morison and Chutima also presented Phuket governor Maitree Inthusut with a plea "for logic to prevail" when the governor met the region's navy representatives.
At the meeting, the governor urged navy officers always to let him know first before commencing new undertakings.
He said there was concern about the "transfer of humans, the transfer of goods and the transfer of news".
Morison said he asked the governor to become the intermediary between the plaintiffs and the navy and that he hopes the governor "suggests that the navy withdraws the charges".
Despite the intervention of the UN and the governor, Morison is still waiting on a positive response from the government and the Royal Thai Navy. As of press time yesterday, there has been no reaction from the navy since the Christmas eve charges. Yet Morison said "our view of the navy hasn't changed".
"We still think they're a good organisation _ they've made a mistake using bad law. We'd be very keen to go back to our normal relationship."
If the navy proceeds with the action, street protests are planned for the Thai consulate in Melbourne, Australia, where Morison once lived, and outside the Royal Thai Navy base on Phuket's Cape Panwa.
Human Rights Watch and Reporters Without Borders have condemned the charges and come to Morison and Chutima's defence.
Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs confirmed embassy officials in Bangkok were providing consular support to Morison, and Australia's Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance called on Thai authorities to drop all charges against Morison and Chutima.
"I think we've exhausted all of the people we can, all of the people expected to support us and are supporting us," Morison said.
"It's a clear issue of freedom of the media and the military exceeding it's role in using an onerous law unjustly.
"We hope the navy would respond with understanding and generosity."