'We had to cover migrant story'

In Thailand, two independent journalists have been found not guilty of defaming the military over reporting they did on the issue of human trafficking.

Alan Morison, an Australian, and Chutima Sidasathian, a Thai national, run a news website on the island of Phuket.

In 2008, they were the first journalists to publish stories about the rising numbers of Rohingyas arriving and the treatment they sometimes received from the Thai authorities.

In December 2013, the Thai navy filed charges of criminal defamation and violating the Computer Crimes Act, for a 41-word paragraph they published from a report by Reuters news agency that referred to Thai naval forces alleged involvement in trafficking.

The BBC's Jonathan Head spoke to them ahead of the verdict.

  • Subsection
  • Published