The public prosecutor in Pattani province has finally withdrawn charges that could have sent three civil rights activists to prison for documenting torture by police and the army in the deep South.
The move by the Pattani Provincial Prosecutor formally ends a controversial case pursued for nearly two years by Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc).
Isoc actually agreed to drop the charges in March, but they were maintained on the legal docket until Wednesday, when the prosecution formally removed them.
Free at last: The public prosecutor has officially withdrawn the criminal defamation charges filed by Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) against three civil rights leaders who wrote a book on torture in the deep South. From left, Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Somchai Homla-or, Anchana Heemmina. (Photo courtesy Cross-Cultural Foundation via Amnesty.org)
Army officers had alleged that the three prominent rights activists libelled the army in a short 2016 book which documented 54 cases of torture against people in the deep South, by both the Royal Thai Police and Royal Thai Army.
Those charged were Somchai Homla-or and Pornpen Khongkachonkiet of the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), and Anchana Heemmina, head of the Hearty Group, based in the South.
The three were charged with criminal defamation and violations of the Computer Crime Act. Each faced five years in prison and a fine of 300,000 baht, along with years of costly litigation.
The three have not detailed the costs of the criminal lawsuit to date.
Ms Pornpen Khongkachonkiet also is chair of Amnesty International Thailand's board, a position she assumed in June of last year.
The starkly titled book was released on the internet in January of last year. It documented abuses from 2014 and 2015.
Amnesty announced the official dropping of charges in a press release on Wednesday.
The three released an e-book in Thai in January, 2016. The cover was starkly titled Torture, but the full name of their carefully documented report was "Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment in the Deep South documented in 2014-2015".
The book described in sometimes gruesome detail the torture of 54 Thais detained by the army and police. It was translated into English and the 49-page PDF version is still available online.
Amnesty International's director of Southeast Asia and the Pacific, James Gomez, was highly critical.
"While it is heartening that the charges against three brave human rights defenders have finally been dropped, the fact is they should never have been brought in the first place," said Mr Gomez. "Thailand needs to take seriously its responsibility to create an environment in which human rights defenders can carry out their work without fear of retaliation."
He also criticised the criminal defamation law, which permits anyone to bring libel and slander charges, prosecuted by the government with penalties including prison and heavy fines.
"The Thai government must also immediately decriminalise defamation, as these laws are often used to prosecute those reporting torture and other rights violations," said the AI chief.
In practise, almost all such charges are brought by government agencies including security branches.
Such "charges are a potent form of harassment that has a chilling effect on freedom of expression," said Mr Gomez.