Articles by Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)
Trial date set for criminal libel suit against media advocate
(SEAPA/IFEX) – Facing libel charges filed by a telecom conglomerate associated with the family of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, media campaigner Supinya Klangnarong has vowed to fight the charges “to the very end,” saying her remarks about the telecom giant were made in good faith. On 6 September, a Thai criminal court set the first […]
SEAPA alarmed by US$10 million libel suit against media advocate
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is a SEAPA press release: SEAPA alarmed by Bt400 million libel suit against Thai media advocate Supinya The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is alarmed by a Thai court’s recent decision clearing the way for a Bt400 million (US$10 million) civil libel suit against a media reform activist in Bangkok. The […]
Press faces litigation and harassment
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 19 August 2004 SEAPA report: Litigation and harassment of the press in Indonesia Over the last year, Indonesian authorities and public figures have increasingly used criminal laws and courts against journalists to silence members of the press. A law that criminalises defamation, in particular, hangs over the heads of […]
Report on “culture of impunity” surrounding journalists’ deaths
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is an 18 August 2004 SEAPA report: SEAPA backgrounder on “culture of impunity” surrounding deaths of Filipino journalists A rash of attacks on Filipino journalists in the last three weeks underscores the most glaring threat to free and independent journalism in the Philippines. While the country’s press remains one of the […]
Local documentary filmmaker arrested for filming flooding disaster in northern Burma
(SEAPA/IFEX) – SEAPA has learned that on 27 July 2004, Military Intelligence agents arrested Lazing La Htoi, a local documentary filmmaker, for having filmed a flooding disaster in Myitkyina, the capital of Kachin state (northern Burma). They were attempting to block public access to information about the incident. SEAPA sources said that a week before […]
Two journalists detained, released two days later
(SEAPA/IFEX) – SEAPA and its partner, the Cambodian Association for Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), protest in the strongest terms the arrest and detention of two journalists by authorities in northeast Cambodia on 25 July 2004. Irish citizen Kevin Doyle, editor-in-chief of the local English-language newspaper “The Cambodian Daily”, and Sok Rathavisal, a local reporter for […]
Military Intelligence cracks down on distribution of politically-sensitive songs; band members and concert organisers arrested
(SEAPA/IFEX) – Burma’s Military Intelligence (MI) has renewed a nation-wide crackdown on politically-sensitive music. According to Mizzima News agency sources, the latest target is a newly-released CD containing songs by an exiled Burmese contemporary hip hop band, Myanmar Future Generation (MFG). On 20 June 2004, the MI arrested members and concert organisers of a new […]
Burmese journalist released from Malaysian prison
(SEAPA/IFEX) – On 24 June 2004, Burmese journalist Sein Mar was released from a Malaysian prison into the custody of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), according to the Center for Independent Journalists (CIJ) in Malaysia. Lawyers and the media only learned of Sein Mar’s release on 28 June when she did not […]