Dear Al and all,
It confirmed that this case will be last long.
Court made a verdict that I shall be real defendant
and get a chance to defend in court from now on.
Court asked me to go again on 6 September in order to
bail out myself.
Even I was telling myself before but still feel
disappointed. But I am fine.
I am going home now and will write you again.
Let me say that I thank you all very much for your
kind supports.
All the best,
supinya
--- "Alan G. Alegre" <alalegre@fma.ph> wrote:
> There is disturbing news that one of our colleagues
> in Thailand Supinya
> Klanangrong, who was sued by libel by the Thai Prime
> Minster's business
> empire, lost the verdict today for the case to be
> dropped...will find out
> more...
>
> Here is a backgrounder again from Bangkok's "The
> Nation"...
>
>
> >
> > The Nation's article starts from here :::::>
> >
> >
> > SPECIAL: Supinya's big day in court
> >
> > Published on Jun 22, 2004
> >
> >
> > Today the Criminal Court will issue an
> unprecedented ruling on whether
> > to accept a libel lawsuit filed by the prime
> minister's business empire
> > against leading activist Supinya Klangnarong. She
> was sued for bringing
> > to the public's attention an issue wholly
> unfamiliar to the justice
> > system of Thailand - conflict of interest. Pravit
> Rojanaphruk talked to
> > her before her big day in court.
> >
> > Life for 31-year-old media freedom campaigner
> Supinya Klangnarong has
> > changed quite a lot since she was sued last
> October by Shin Corp, the
> > telecommunications giant owned by Prime Minister
> Thaksin Shinawatra's
> > family. Her case was widely reported in the local
> media and beyond.
> >
> > Supinya accused Shin Corp, which owns the iTV
> television station and
> > many other communications firms, of being a major
> beneficiary of the
> > Thaksin administration's policies, having trebled
> its wealth since the
> > premier came to power three years ago. She also
> accused the firm of
> > using the profits, in turn, to further advance
> Thaksin's political
> > clout.
> >
> > Since then, Supinya has become a globetrotter of
> sorts, flying off to
> > places like Sri Lanka, Switzerland, India and
> Slovenia. Last week she
> > was in London talking to workers from
> non-governmental organisations
> > (NGOs) such as Amnesty International and Article
> 19, a free-speech
> > advocacy group, and with members of journalist
> unions about how press
> > freedom is facing a new kind of threat in
> Thailand.
> >
> > "[Foreigners] are interested in why this huge
> corporation related to the
> > prime minister decided to sue me," she said,
> adding that invitations to
> > talk at local universities and seminars had
> increased dramatically since
> > October.
> >
> > At 1.30pm today, the Criminal Court will finally
> decide whether to take
> > up or drop the case. Supinya is anxious but
> prepared for both
> > eventualities.
> >
> > "If the court takes up the case, I will turn a
> crisis into an
> > opportunity," she said, explaining that such a
> decision would give her
> > the opportunity to focus more on the relationship
> between the
> > corporation and the prime minister's
> administration.
> >
> > "But deep down, nobody wants to fight a court
> case," she said, adding
> > that some libel cases have already dragged on for
> five or six years with
> > no end in sight.
> >
> > She has no regrets about her remarks, which
> appeared in the
> > Thai-language Thai Post newspaper last July.
> >
> > Supinya is a graduate of the Faculty of
> Communication Arts at
> > Chulalongkorn University and has a postgraduate
> degree in media and
> > communications at Westminster University in
> London.
> >
> > Supinya said friends and colleagues had asked her
> why she did not try to
> > evade the legal trap by not mentioning the name of
> Shin Corp outright,
> > and instead make a vague yet concrete enough
> reference for everyone to
> > guess what firm she was talking about.
> >
> > "If I could rewind the clock and go back in time,
> I would mention the
> > name of the firm again," she said. "Without this,
> people are no longer
> > in a position to scrutinise the powerful. It is
> about freedom of speech,
> > and society should learn to accept it. It is a
> reminder to the private
> > sector that they cannot simply do whatever they
> want and remain
> > untouchable."
> >
> > Supinya is not too upset, however, admitting she
> is quite fortunate to
> > be working for an NGO as secretary-general of the
> Campaign for Popular
> > Media Reform, and to have been relatively
> well-known to the public even
> > prior to the lawsuit action.
> >
> > "If I was an academic, they would just try to
> publicly discredit me. If
> > I was a rural villager, I might simply have been
> abducted. Thank
> > goodness I haven't been and am still living safely
> without political
> > harassment. However, the lawsuit has had an impact
> on my courage to
> > speak."
> >
> > While 60 people turned up at the court on the day
> she was asked to make
> > a first appearance, Supinya is not counting on
> that many today.
> >
> > "If I win, they may appeal and it could drag on,
> like cancer. If I lose,
> > I will appeal to higher courts. In the end, it
> depends on how strong you
> > are and you must come to terms with it yourself. I
> have also learned to
> > trust my attorney," said Supinya, referring to a
> 50-something volunteer
> > lawyer from the Law Society of Thailand by the
> name of Nakorn.
> >
> > The Business for Society Network donated Bt50,000
> as a starting fund for
> > Supinya's legal defence. However, more money will
> be required if the
> > case drags on.
> >
> > "Public interest in my case may wane eventually,
> but as long as I have
> > my trusted attorney, I won't be afraid. What's
> more, at least my case
> > has caught the public's attention - many more such
> cases ended without
> > the public even knowing about it," she said.
> >
> > "I now realise that the case has become part of my
> work, even without my
> > knowing it. But it has also alerted the public
> about what is at risk
> > here."
> >
> >
> >
> > (c) Nation Multimedia Group
> > 44 Moo 10 Bang Na-Trat KM 4.5, Bang Na district,
> Bangkok 10260 Thailand
> > Tel 66-2-325-5555, 66-2-317-0420 and 66-2-316-5900
> ; Fax 66-2-317-2071
> > Contact us: Nation Internet
> >
> > (end of The Nation story)
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Pradip Thomas
> > Sent: 22 June 2004 10:40
> > To: All Staff
> > Subject: FW: SUPINYA vs SHIN Corp
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
>
=== message truncated ===
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