Thailand: Citizen journalist arrested for flying drone over controversial mine
Event- Country
- Thailand
- Initial Date
- Nov 29, 2017
- Final Date
- Jan 22, 2018
- Event Description
The police have detained a citizen journalist at the Thai-Myanmar border for flying a drone over a disputed gold mine in 2015. At about 11:30 am on 29 November 2017, immigration police arrested Jamon Sonpednarin, a freelance human rights and environmental journalist, at the Phu Nam Ron border post between Mueang District of Kanchanaburi Province and Myanmar. He was detained at the Mueang District Police Station and will remain in custody until the arrival of an officer from Wang Saphung District Police Station of the northeastern province of Loei, which issued an arrest warrant for him in 2015. The arrest warrant accuses Jamon of trespassing and flying a drone over a controversial gold mine in Wang Saphung District in 2015 which was operated by Tungkum Co Ltd before its closure. Siriphorn Chaiphet of the Thai Volunteer Service posted on her Facebook page that the arrest warrant for Jamon was related to a case in 2015, when Tungkum sued villagers, most of whom are members of the anti-mine activist group Khon Rak Ban Koed (KRBK) (translated as "People Who Love Their Home'), accusing them of trespassing in the mining area. But the court acquitted the villagers in 2016, because the land permit given to Tungkum had already expired when the case was filed. Update 22 January 2018: Police are continuing their prosecution of Thai PBS citizen journalist Jamon Sonpednarin, as a lawyer revealed his case will be handed to the attorney on Monday and human-rights organisations urged authorities to drop the complaint against him immediately. The defendant's lawyer, Sor Rattanamanee Polkla, said on Saturday that police would conclude their case against Jamon and submit it to the attorney to decide whether to pursue it in court - despite two other defendants in the same case being found innocent by the court. Jamon allegedly trespassed into the old Thung Kham Company copper and gold open-pit mine in Loei's Wang Saphung district alongside two other local activists, Surapun Rujichaiyavat and Pornthip Hongchai, as part of their peaceful campaign urging the mine closure and environmental restoration. A court acquitted the case against the other two activists on November 25, 2016. Jamon said that he had neither been contacted about the complaint against him nor received any police summons until he was arrested at the border crossing in Kanchanaburi on November 29, 2017. Sor Rattanamanee said lawyers would submit a petition to the attorney noting the previous court judgement that Thung Kham has no rightful ownership on the mine area since its land-use allowance has expired. She said she hoped that, after receiving this information, the attorneys would understand the true nature of the case and not take it to court. The Fortify Rights and Community Resource Centre Foundation (CRC) groups have released a statement demanding the authorities drop the complaint against Jamon and urging the government to ensure freedom of expression and press freedom. The statement noted that, just eight days before Jamon was arrested, the government had announced human rights as part of its national agenda. The statement also highlighted that the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are protected under Articles 19 and 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which Thailand is a state party. Therefore, it noted, arrest and detention in this case were unlawful. "Fortify Rights and CRC call on the Thai government to drop all unwarranted complaints and charges against journalists, human rights defenders and other critics," the statement read.
- Impact of Event
- 1
- Gender of HRD
- Man
- Violation
- (Arbitrary) Arrest and Detention
- Judicial Harassment
- Rights Concerned
- Media freedom
- HRD
- Environmental rights defender
- Media Worker
- Perpetrator-State
- Government
- Police
- Source
- Monitoring Status
- Pending
- Event Location
Latitude: 14.022799199999987
Longitude: 99.5327806
- Event Location
- Summary for Publications
On 29 November 2017, The police have detained a citizen journalist at the Thai-Myanmar border for flying a drone over a disputed gold mine in 2015. Update 28 January 2018: The defendant's lawyer, Sor Rattanamanee Polkla, said on Saturday that police would conclude their case against Jamon and submit it to the attorney to decide whether to pursue it in court - despite two other defendants in the same case being found innocent by the court.