Ms Chiranuch Premchaiporn

The Criminal Court of Thailand is due to announce its verdict concerning the case of media rights advocate Ms Chiranuch Premchaiporn on 30 April 2012.

Chiranuch Premchaiporn is the Executive Director of Prachatai, an alternative news website which reports on human rights and social movement sin Thailand and Southeast Asia.

Chiranuch Premchaiporn has been charged under the Computer Crime Act for her role as webmaster of the Prachatai web forum, which was set up to encourage open discussions on political and social issues. Her trial took place in February 2011, it was postponed to September 2011 and concluded in February 2012. If found guilty of this charge, she could face the maximum sentence of twenty years in prison or a fine of 1,000,000 Thai Baht (€ 23,000).

Chiranuch Premchaiporn was the recipient of the International Women's Media Foundation “Courage in Journalism” Award in May 2011 and the Human Rights Watch Hellman/Hammet Award in September 2011.

The verdict will be delivered at the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court on 30 April 2012 at 9am at Room 910.

For more information on this case, please see Front Line Defenders' original urgent appeal and updates dated 5 November 2010 (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/13727), 30 August 2011 (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/16043), and 13 November 2011 (http://www.frontlinedefenders.org/node/16198) respectively.

You can find additional information on the situation for human rights Defenders in Thailand. HERE