(SEAPA/IFEX) – On 2 December 2004, a Thai court acquitted veteran columnist Prasong Soonsiri and three executives of a local daily of libelling court judges. The court said an article by Prasong, published on 28 August 2001, was at most improper and contemptuous of the judiciary, but that its contents were ultimately factual and of […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – On 2 December 2004, a Thai court acquitted veteran columnist Prasong Soonsiri and three executives of a local daily of libelling court judges. The court said an article by Prasong, published on 28 August 2001, was at most improper and contemptuous of the judiciary, but that its contents were ultimately factual and of benefit to the public interest.
The article, published in the local-language daily “Naew Wa” and entitled, “Disgraceful Ruling”, questioned the acquittal of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on asset-concealment charges in 2001. Eight of 15 judges voted for the prime minister’s acquittal in the case. When Prasong criticised the verdict – which narrowly saved Thaksin from impeachment – seven of the eight judges who voted for the prime minister’s acquittal sued Prasong, his paper, the paper’s editor, and two of the paper’s executives. The judges said Prasong had damaged their reputations and that of the court.
This week, the Thai Criminal Court did indeed hold Prasong and “Naew Na” editor Jirapong Tempiam guilty of contempt of court. However, the same court dismissed the heavier charges of libel. The two were each given a one-year prison sentence, which has been suspended pending appeal, and a fine of US$180. Lawyers said they did not expect either journalist to actually spend any time behind bars.
“It’s not just me, society has won,” Prasong, a former national Security Council chief, told reporters.
SEAPA welcomed the ruling, calling it “a landmark decision that should strengthen the cause of free expression in Thailand.”
SEAPA Executive Director Roby Alampay added that “the decision steels the independence of both the press and the Thai courts, which recently have been used by intertwining business and political interests as a stage to assault and undermine the press.”
