Human rights activists file defamation lawsuit against PM and army
A civil defamation lawsuit has been filed by Thai human rights activists against the Office of the Prime Minister for allegedly publishing distorted information on a blog website. The government’s Information Operation allegedly ran a website called puliny.blogspot.com, which is now offline. It published news stories about southern Thailand, but also allegedly shot down claims of human rights violations.
The lawsuit lists PM Prayut Chan-o-cha as the main defendant and the Army as a co-defendant. It was filed by former member of Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission, Angkhana Neelaphaijit, and Human Rights activists, Unchana Heemmina.
The lawsuit claims the blogsite published distorted information and defamed Unchana, who is also a former member of the National Human Rights Commission for the south.
About every time Angkhana claimed security officials violated human rights, the website would fire back and say her claims were false, according to the lawsuit. Unchana says she reported incidents of torture in southern border provinces. She says the blogsite then shot back and posted defaming information about her. She claims her family was threatened.
Back in February, a spokesperson for the Internal Security Operations Command, or ISOC, said the unit funded the blogsite with the intention to spread accurate information and educate the public about official operations as well as encourage human rights and peace.
SOURCE: Thai PBS
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