As a consortium of Southeast Asian press organizations committed to defending journalistic freedom in the region, we are deeply concerned by the recent development in Thailand which saw a journalist from Prachatai, our partner organization in Thailand, arrested and charged with a criminal offense. 

Background information 

Southeast Asia, January 30, 2024 – The PFMSea Coalition documented 203 cases of attacks on journalists and media in the region throughout 2023, impacting at least 329 media workers and media companies. This documentation is displayed via the monitoring platform pfmsea.org, which has monitored the press freedom situation in several countries: Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, The Philippines, and Timor Leste, not to mention a few prominent cases in Vietnam and Myanmar.

Jakarta, 22 November 2023, We, the undersigned organizations and individuals forming the Global Coalition, issue an urgent plea to the Indonesian Government to stand resolutely with its people and uphold the principles of freedom of expression by urgently revising the Electronic Information and Transactions Law (ITE Law). This law, known for stifling freedom of expression and suppressing human rights defenders, requires immediate attention and rectification.

Phnom Penh, 2 November 2023 — On this International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against
Journalists, we, the undersigned civil society organisations, call upon the Royal Government of
Cambodia (“RGC”) to take immediate and concrete action to ensure the effective, independent, and
transparent investigation of all crimes committed against journalists and human rights defenders
(“HRDs") in the Kingdom of Cambodia.

We, the undersigned Seven journalist organizations in Southeast Asia condemn the
killing of journalists and other civilians with impunity and see this as fundamental
violations of international human rights and humanitarian laws, including the Geneva
Conventions. We convey our solidarity for all journalists and media workers working in
the Gaza Strip that face high risk in the military operations between Israel and Hamas.