NHRC member fights Khon Kaen murder 'fake news'

NHRC member fights Khon Kaen murder 'fake news'

National Human Rights Commission member Angkhana Neelapaijit at a campaign on the eve of International Women's Day 2017 on March 6, 2017. (file photo by Somchai Poomlard)
National Human Rights Commission member Angkhana Neelapaijit at a campaign on the eve of International Women's Day 2017 on March 6, 2017. (file photo by Somchai Poomlard)

National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) member Angkhana Neelapaijit filed a complaint with police on Wednesday, seeking action against media outlets she said wrongfully dragged her into the case of the murdered karaoke bar girl in Khon Kaen province.

The wife of missing lawyer Somchai asked the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) to clamp down news websites violating her rights.

The names of the media sites were not revealed. But her Facebook account shows tvpoolonline.com and khaophisit.com running the exact same story on June 2. It was not known which was the first to post the story.

The story did not quote her, only saying that a human rights advocate who was not named had defended the murder suspects on the grounds that they had no intention to kill Warisara Klinjui.

They carried very similar compilation photos of suspect Preeyanuch "Priew" Nonwangchai and her, with two only slightly different headlines.

"Human rights advocate says society should forgive Priew," the headline on tvpool.com said. "Human rights advocate says society should give Priew another chance," said khaophiset.com.

On Sunday, tvpoolonline.com retracted the story, admitting it was fake news, but khaophiset.com was still running the story on its website on Wednesday when the Bangkok Post checked.

Mrs Angkhana explained on her Facebook account on Saturday that she was in Bahrain and had not made any comment on the issue to any news media.

She said on Wednesday that the damage had already been done. People had deluged her with comments, some of them very rude.

Mrs Angkhana added she hoped police would take her complaint seriously as the websites severely damaged her rights.

She also tagged #HateSpeech on her Facebook page on Tuesday with the question. "Let's see see what the TCSD, which directly deals with computer crime, will do to protect the rights of the people?"

She echoed the comment after filing her complaint with the police unit on Wednesday.

Deeply involved in human rights protection, especially in the deep South, Mrs Angkhana is sometimes at odds with authorities she alleges abuse their power during operations against southern militants.

Ms Preeyanuch is the accused killer in the cruel murder of Warisara, whose dismembered body was found buried in Khao Suan Kwang district of Khon Kaen on May 23. Other suspects have said she was the one who killed her and dismembered the body.

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