Thai Phuketwan journalists acquitted of defaming navy

A court in the southern Thai island of Phuket has acquitted two journalists of defaming the navy and breaching the Computer Crimes Act.

Chutima Sidasathian and Australian Alan Morison, from news site Phuketwan, faced possible jail time for a line in a 2013 article on human trafficking.

The excerpt, from Reuters news agency, quoted an unnamed smuggler saying Thai naval forces made money from turning a blind eye to trafficking.

Reuters does not face any charges.

Reuters and Phuketwan were the first to examine reports of Thai involvement in the trafficking of Rohingya from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

Since then, the route the migrants take through South East Asia to get to Malaysia has been revealed to involve jungle camps and thousands of people trapped on boats in terrible conditions.

The South East Asian migrant crisis


On the trail of Thailand's human traffickers explores how entire communities in Thailand are helping the traffickers

The trial of the journalists had sparked widespread condemnation from human rights groups and the United Nations. Amnesty International said the verdict was "a welcome move for freedom of expression".

"Vaguely worded provisions of the Computer Crime Act are being misused as a tool to silence and harass independent media," said Josef Benedict, Amnesty International's South East Asia campaigns director.