Ex-prime minister’s sentence further entrenches criminal defamation and deepens threat to freedom of expression in Thailand

Ex-prime minister's sentence further entrenches criminal defamation and deepens threat to freedom of expression in Thailand, says SEAPA - IFEX, September 29, 2008
...The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) is expressing concern over the penalty of imprisonment meted out against the former prime minister. While the Samak defamation decision will have to be taken within the larger political contexts in Thailand, SEAPA believes that meting out a jail sentence for defamation will only further entrench criminal defamation in
Thailand, further growing an existing threat to freedom of expression. While there are accepted limits to free speech, the penalty of imprisonment for defamation is excessive against any person, in any context. The criminal defamation case against Samak -or any other personality- will have implications beyond the personalities directly involved. It will set a chilling standard by which all Thai citizens, including journalists, writers, and oppositionists, will now also be held by...