Journalist charged over 2002 report
- Published: 8/03/2009 at 12:00 AM
- Newspaper section: News
A leading Swiss TV reporter arrested nine days ago has described the defamation action bought against him by a local Aids charity over a documentary made six years ago as "bizarre".
SF TV chief reporter Christoph Muller.
Christoph Muller, 58, the head of documentary programmes at the German-language SF (Swiss National) TV broadcaster, was arrested and handcuffed on Feb 27 at Suvarnabhumi airport and taken to Bang Lamung police station in Chon Buri.
Mr Muller was held in custody for 24 hours and granted bail after appearing in a Pattaya court. His passport has been confiscated. At the time of his arrest, Mr Muller said he had no clear idea what the charges against him were as the court documents and arrest warrants were in Thai.
After consulting his lawyers, he learned that a defamation charge had been brought by the charity C.Care Asia International over a documentary aired in Switzerland in December 2002. The documentary, which investigated a Swiss man associated with the charity, was never shown outside Switzerland, but the defamation complaint was lodged with Chon Buri police on Aug 28, 2005.
''The documentary was released on the 6th of December 2002 and you get sued four or five years later? It's bizarre,'' said Mr Muller, who is due to report back to authorities on Thursday.
The offence carries a maximum jail term of two years and a fine of 200,000 baht. Mr Muller, who heads a team producing four-and-a-half hours of programming a week, could be forced to spend up to one year in Thailand while the case is processed.
C.Care Asia International was unavailable for comment yesterday, but it's understood the defamation complaint was made by the organisation's vice-chairman, Suthasinee Norasing.
SF TV described the measures as a ''judicial farce'' and ''out of all proportion to his apparent offence''. ''The authorities have not told Muller exactly why he was arrested, but it appears to have been the result of a 2006 complaint about a report by Muller in 2002 about a bogus Swiss doctor based in Thailand ...'' the station said in a statement.
The editor of current affairs, Ueli Haldimann, said: ''We don't understand the arrest of our head reporter and we demand instantaneous clarification from the Thai authorities. We protest against the method of the arrest. The film Muller made was only shown in Switzerland. That's why we don't understand why a Thai court stood up the complaint.''
Reporters Without Borders have called on Thai authorities to immediately rescind the order banning him from leaving the country and to return his passport.
