Govt urged to stop using 'national security' as an excuse to crackdown on media
The Thai government should stop using "national security" to justify media censorship, London-based Amnesty International (AI) said in a statement to mark World Press Freedom Day earlier this week.
The organisation also called for an end to crackdowns on the press in the name of national security, noting that since the coup last year, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and the military government have been maintaining a tight control over the media.
The group cited the shutting down of red-shirt leaning Peace TV as an example, saying that under NCPO’s orders No 97/2014 and 103/2014, every media outlet is prohibited from criticising the coup-makers and presenting information that contravenes the military junta’s measures to maintain national security.
It also noted that order No 103/2014 was issued to amend certain clauses of order No 97/2014 and allow for “honest” and “constructive” criticism of the NCPO. However, any information discrediting the military junta is prohibited and those violating the order face investigation.
Amnesty also cited the continued imprisonment of Voice of Thaksin magazine editor Somyos Prueksakasemsuk under lese majeste charges and the case against Alan Morrison and Chutima Sidasathian, an editor and journalist at Phuketwan News, who are being sued by the Navy for publishing articles in relation to human trafficking.
The organisation said Somyos was a prisoner of conscience, while the case of Morrison and Chutima was clear evidence of repression against journalists.
