Police say journalists had been charged with collaborating in vandalising an historic website in an incident final 12 months.
Two Thai journalists who had been arrested for reporting in regards to the vandalism of a temple in Bangkok with anti-monarchist graffiti have been launched on bail, a lawyer’s group has stated.
Nattaphol Meksobhon, a reporter from the unbiased on-line information outlet Prachatai, and freelance photographer Nattaphon Phanphongsanon had been arrested on Monday, practically a 12 months after the incident in Bangkok.
The Royal Palace police station, which made the arrests, stated Meksobhon and Phanphongsanon had been charged with collaborating in vandalising an historic website.
Nutthaphol wrote a narrative and Natthapon took a video of the incident, which was broadly reported.
The offence is punishable by as much as seven years in jail and a 700,000 baht ($19,600) advantageous.
The 2 arrested males have stated they had been solely finishing up their jobs as journalists.
The fees contain a March 28, 2023, incident wherein a 25-year-old activist spray-painted an anarchist image and the quantity 112 with a line by way of it on the outside wall of the revered Temple of the Emerald Buddha, which is within the Grand Palace advanced.
The quantity 112 is a reference to the “lese majeste” regulation, which protects the royal household from criticism.
The Thai journalists affiliation defended the 2 journalists and stated they had been involved about “damaging media rights and freedom” within the nation.
“It was crucial for journalists to cowl the information,” it stated.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin stated on Tuesday that the federal government is “truthful” on freedom of the press and stated it’s as much as the police to find out what is suitable.
“Every part is dependent upon the regulation. There is no such thing as a harassment,” he stated.
The group Thai Legal professionals for Human Rights stated the 2 journalists had been held in a single day at separate police stations after their arrests and had been taken on Tuesday to Bangkok Prison Court docket, the place they had been launched on bail after posting a bond of 35,000 baht ($980) every.
The editor of Prachatai Information stated the journalists who lined the story went to the temple with out understanding upfront that it might be graffitied.
“They had been protecting the information as journalists,” Tewarit Maneechai stated.
He added that his colleagues had been unaware of their costs earlier than their arrest regardless of a warrant issued in Could.
“Their arrests created worry about information protection of delicate points,” he stated. Within the World Press Freedom Index in 2023, Thailand ranked 106 out of 180 nations.
Police Lieutenant Colonel Phawat Wattasupat, deputy superintendent of Phra Ratchawang police station, informed the Reuters information company that police had ample info to help their arrests.
