Criminal Defamation Case against BBC Correspondent Dropped

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fountainhall

Criminal Defamation Case against BBC Correspondent Dropped

Post by fountainhall »

A Thai lawyer has dropped his criminal defamation suit against a BBC correspondent who investigated foreigners being scammed of their retirement homes in the country, the broadcaster has said.

Jonathan Head, the BBC’s south-east Asia correspondent, faced up to five years in jail after his report exposed how two foreign retirees had Phuket properties stolen from them by a network of criminals and corrupt officials.

Rights groups have said the case highlights how Thailand’s broad defamation and computer crime laws scupper investigative journalism and make it difficult to uncover wrongdoing in a country where corruption is endemic.

The lawyer who brought the suit – Pratuan Thanarak – decided to drop the charges against Head on the first day of the trial on Wednesday.

“The plaintiff has withdrawn his case against BBC journalist Jonathan Head, but as the trial of his co-defendant is continuing we cannot comment further at present,” the BBC said in a short statement . . .

The 2015 BBC report detailed how a network of Phuket criminals, aided by corrupt officials, stole properties from foreigners by forging land title transfers.

One of the victims who featured in the report, British national Ian Rance, is a joint defendant in the prosecution. He still faces a single defamation charge and up to two years in jail if convicted.

Rance said he lost $1.2m worth of properties after his then wife and a gang of money-lenders forged property paperwork.

According to the report, Pratuan admitted on tape to certifying Rance’s signature without him being present, a move which helped the wife transfer his properties out of his name.

She was later convicted and jailed for the scam, but Rance has been hit by a slew of legal cases since going public, a common outcome faced by whistleblowers in Thailand which markets itself as an ideal retirement destination for wealthy foreigners.
More here - https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/ ... n-thailand
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Re: Criminal Defamation Case against BBC Correspondent Dropped

Post by Gaybutton »

Rance has been hit by a slew of legal cases since going public
And that is why I have locked the topic. I'm sorry. While I realize some might wish to discuss this, I'm not going to risk being the next one to end up on the wrong side of a lawsuit.
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