press freedom

1 Mar 2024
Nattaphon “Yah” Phanphongsanon, a photographer for the online news outlet Spacebar, has been sued for defamation by Senator Seree Suwanpanont, over his coverage of an incident in 2023 where activists distributed leaflets, calling on senators to respect the people’s voice during the last prime ministerial vote.
26 Feb 2024
After the body of jailed Myanmar journalist Myat Thu Tun was found buried, reportedly marked with gunshot wounds and signs of torture, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the international community to take action to force the Myanmar junta to cease its "campaign of terror" against reporters and release detained journalists and press freedom defenders.  
23 Feb 2024
Following the arrest of Nutthaphol Meksobhon, a Prachatai reporter, and photographer Natthaphon Phanphongsanon, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) issued a statement calling for the Thai authorities to drop the charges against them and to end harassment of journalists.
23 Feb 2024
On 12 February, the police arrested a reporter and a photographer for “being accomplices” in damaging a historic site, based on the fact that they covered an incident on 28 March 2023 when a 25-year-old activist sprayed an anarchist symbol and the number 112, with a strike through it, onto the wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. One of those arrested was Prachatai reporter Nutthaphol Meksobhon. His arrest warrant was issued on 22 May 2023 and had never received a summons prior to being arrested.
23 Feb 2024
The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) and CIVICUS has issued a statement raising concerns about the Thai government's prosecution of activists and journalists. They also called the Thai government to drop charges against activists, journalists, and human rights defenders, end its practice of judicial harassment, and review and repeal its repressive laws.
14 Feb 2024
Following the arrest of Prachatai reporter Nutthaphol Meksobhon and Spacebar photographer Natthaphon Phanphongsanon, civil society organizations, academics, students, and MPs have issued statements condemning the arrest as a threat to press freedom and demanded their release.
2 Feb 2024
Three years after its coup, the Myanmar junta is stepping up its ruthless crackdown on journalists. The army has summarily killed four journalists, and more than 150 media professionals have been locked up. Reporters are facing increasingly harsh prison sentences. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on the international community to step up the pressure on the military regime to secure their release.
8 Nov 2023
On 2 November, the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists, the Cambodian Journalists Alliance Association (CamboJA), along with 19 other civil society organizations, issued a statement calling for the Cambodian government to conduct independent and transparent investigations of all crimes committed against journalists and human rights defenders in Cambodia.
5 Oct 2023
Following the sentencing of Myanmar Now photojournalist Sai Zaw Thaike to 20 years in prison for dissemination of false information and sedition for reporting on the aftermath of Cyclone Mocha, the Press Freedom Monitoring in Southeast Asia (PFMSea) calls for an immediate and unconditional release of all journalists who have been detained or imprisoned in Myanmar for doing their job.
2 Oct 2023
Bangkok, 26th September 2023— "Media Transformation in Shifting Scenarios," a public forum organised by Prachatai, took note of the challenging landscape faced by mass media workers in an age of political polarisation. Media professionals continue to face multiple threats, from legal restrictions and surveillance to censorship and risks to personal safety. These challenges, in turn, have had a significant impact on media workers’ freedom of expression. The seminar raises a crucial question: following the change of government, can meaningful change be anticipated?
28 Sep 2023
The Civil Court has ordered the police to pay damages to two reporters shot with rubber bullets while covering a protest in July 2021, as the police did not take care and did not use non-lethal weapons in the proper way. However, the Court ruled that this was not a violation of press freedom or an attempt at intimidating the press to stop their reporting.
27 Jul 2023
Police said Wednesday they were investigating a bomb attack at the home of a finance newspaper editor, which came just hours after a colleague at the same news outlet received a death threat to his children.

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