Thailand jail

Journalists Alan Morison, Chutima Sidasathian facing seven years in Thailand jail for online news story.

The trial of Australian journalist Alan Morison and his Thai colleague Chutima Sidasathian has begun today on the Thai island of Phuket.

The pair have been fighting against charges that relate to the publication of a story on website PhuketWan.com since December 2013.

Mr Morison, who is a former senior editor of The Age newspaper, said they were facing up to seven years in prison for simply quoting a paragraph from an award winning story by the Reuters news agency.

"I'd like to stay free. There is a prospect of jail. We don't think it's likely because we are innocent. But you know, I guess it makes us very concerned about the future," he said.

Mr Morison and his colleague are charged with defamation and violating the Computer Crimes Act.

The defamation charges relate to one paragraph published on the website which cites a Reuters investigative report alleging some navy officials "work systematically with smugglers to profit from the surge in fleeing Rohingya refugees".

The Reuters news agency was honoured with one of journalism's most coveted awards for the story, a Pulitzer prize.

But Mr Morrison said publishing the same report online has had very different consequences for those working in Thailand.

"We'd hoped that the military government might see sense in creating a better atmosphere between it and the media but they have chosen to continue the case, which indicates that the future of the Thai media is not going to be rosy," Mr Morison said.

"Unfortunately, the Thai media is also fairly subdued about these kinds of issues.

"Freedom of the media doesn't get a big run in the Thai press the way it should."

Concerns case could set a dangerous precedent

Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights, and the Southeast Asian Press Alliance are just a few of more than half a dozen international organisations to have expressed outrage that Thai authorities have not dropped the charges against the journalists.

Elaine Pearson, the Australia director of Human Rights Watch, is worried this case could set a precedent.

"This is actually the first time that any of the Thai armed forces have tried to use the Computer Crimes Act against journalists, and so we're really concerned about the precedent that this sets in terms of... going after critical journalists that write stories that the military government doesn't like," she said.

"Particularly in an environment where the prime minister, General Prayut, has made statements like, 'oh it's okay to go out and shoot journalists or to execute them'."I think we're really very concerned about freedom of expression right now in Thailand."

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