Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

SEAPA joined the Media Legal Defence Initiative and other human rights organisations in calling for the release of five bloggers arbitrarily detained for more than seven months.

Fifty IFEX members and other rights groups call on the Bahrain authorities to release from prison human rights defender Abdulhadi Al-Khawaja, whose life is at risk since beginning a hunger strike on 8 February.

Police are investigating the motive for the killing of Wisut Tangwitthayaporn but have not ruled out the journalist’s reporting on corruption in the management of the province’s land encroachment problem as a major cause.

Daranee “Da Torpedo” Charnchoensilpakul had previously been convicted and sentenced to 18 years during a closed-door trial, which the court later ruled was unconstitutional.

Rather than safeguarding the right to assemble, the Peaceful Assembly Act will greatly diminish people’s ability to express their political opinions.

Joe Gordon’s alleged crime was translating sections of a banned biography of the Thai monarch and posting them online while living in the United States.

The government announced on 24 November that Facebook users could be charged under lese majeste laws for commenting on, sharing, or clicking ‘like’ on content deemed insulting to the royal family; individuals found guilty can be sentenced to up to 15 years imprisonment for each offence.

SEAPA’s letter urged President Benigno Aquino III to support the global campaign and ensure the Ampatuan trial marks a first step to ending journalists’ killings.