Alan Morison, facing court this week over reporting on corruption in Thailand, fears he won’t survive jail if found guilty

Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathien face trial this week. Source: AAP

 

AN AUSTRALIAN journalist facing a lengthy prison term for allegedly defaming the Thai army in an expose on people smugglers in Thailand fears he will not survive in jail should he be convicted following his trial this week. 

Alan Morison, 67, is concerned he will be forced into a crowded cell on the Thai island of Phuket where up to 300 underfed men are forced to sleep on their sides.

He and his Thai colleague will face court over defamation and computer crime charges tomorrow and a verdict is expected to take a month.

This is despite direct representations for the charges to be dropped to Thai Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha from Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Australian Ambassador Paul Robilliard.

The editor of Thailand-based online news site Phuketwan and his colleague Chutima “Oi” Sidasathian, 34, are charged over reprinting 41 words from an award winning story by wire service Reuters on the human trafficking and slavery of Burmese migrants.

On trial ... Alan Morison and Thai reporter Chutima Sidasathien will face court over defamation and computer crime charges. Source: AAP

 

Reuters and the journalists who won the coveted Pulitzer Prize for their story have not been charged by the Thai government. Mr Morrison and Ms Chutima — who assisted the Reuters journalist in translating and identifying difficult to access areas of the Thai coast where the human trade was taking place — say they have had no offers of support from Reuters.

The pair’s work has seen them regularly visit Phuket’s prisons with the local police.

“I know what it’s like,” Mr Morison said.

He said Australian journalist Peter Greste, who was in prison in Egypt in from December 2013-Februray 2015 “lived in luxury compared to the conditions in Phuket prison.”

“People who are forced to live on Thai prison food waste away pretty quickly,” he said, describing it as “appalling”.

“Medical attention and dental attention are hard to get. At my age, frankly, I am not sure I would survive,” he said.

Action ... Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop is being urged to intervene. Source: AFP

 

Mr Morison moved to Thailand in 2002 before starting Phuketwan with Ms Chutima in 2008 after a distinguished career in Australian journalism working for both News Corporation and Fairfax. He began as a cadet at the Melbourne Herald and his career included two lengthy stints at The Age as well as one at the Sunday Herald.

He said that while he and Ms Chutima were prepared for the emotional tribulations of their upcoming trial, the added burden of both their fathers being ill has been devastating. The men died within two days of each other three weeks ago.

“To have both our fathers die without being able to spend more time with them adds to the deep seated resentment about this unjust case,” Mr Morison said.

“And while Chutima was able to have her father’s support ahead of the case, my sisters thought it best that I not tell my father what I was facing when I last saw him in February.

“I will never know what he thought but as a World War 2 veteran and the son of Gallipoli veteran, I think he would have wanted me to fight this.”

The heads of the Australian Embassy’s political and consular sections Sarah Roberts and Kirsten Fletcher will attend the trial on behalf of the Australian Government.

“I don’t want to be a martyr,” Mr Morison said.

“We are prepared to take risks to achieve the only possible outcome which is to prevent these laws being to applied to anyone else.”

news.com.au 13 July 2015

Don't worry good people, laws like this may also be around the corner for 'Australians'.

Wouldn't the corporation conglomerate (commonly referred to as the government) love to officially implement a law like this in Australia?

When you are in the process of letting the cat out of the bag, information that is truly undesired to be out in the open, you get a knock on your door, or a phone call that if you don't stop, your family will get hurt.

This is how it's done in Australia (unofficially of course).

Thailand's corruption - EAT YOUR HEART OUT!

White supremacists a growing threat to social cohesion in Australia, NSW Police deputy commissioner Nick Kaldas says

New South Wales Police have named the rise of white supremacist groups as one of the main threats to social cohesion in Australia.

Police Deputy Commissioner Nick Kaldas said a number of organisations fitting that description are moving out of the shadows.

"Racist groups who have in the past worked under the radar, coming out, spreading hatred, particularly on the far-right," he said.

Mr Kaldas said police were watching the trend closely although he declined to name any specific groups.


"I'm loathed to give them any oxygen but I would say that there is definitely activity on the right wing, the extreme right wing, of politics and people who are using events around the world to create incidents in Australia and NSW and in Sydney," he said.

"We're not taking our eye off that ball. We are watching it just as much as we watch anybody else."
He was speaking today at a community cohesion conference at the University of Western Sydney, in Parramatta.

'Online mobilisation' contributes to growth of extremism

Race Discrimination Commissioner Dr Tim Soutphommasane also gave a speech, in which he echoed the concerns of police.

"It's of concern that extremist organisations are being emboldened and conducting their activities in public more frequently and more visibly," he said.

"Part of it must have something to do with online mobilisation, the fact that you can attract attention and support more easily through social media and the internet."

Dr Soutphommasane said he is happy with the police response so far, but he warns that Australian white supremacists may become even bolder in the future.

"Vigilance is going to be important here and we need to ensure that we monitor developments closely and that there isn't an escalation in the situation," he said.

"The last thing we would want to see is physical violence involving racism in our streets and in our suburbs."
He said national unity is the best response to violent extremism, no matter its persuasion.

"The best antidote we have is for a cohesive and harmonious society where people can feel that they belong to Australia, where they don't have the need to repudiate our society and it's institutions and values," Dr Soutphommasane said.

 abc.net.au 17 Jul 2015

This all sounds fine and dandy, but has the corporate media got it wrong?

The 'mob' can and are every easily controlled in the Police State of Australia.

Where are all the racists and 'white supremacists', really hiding out?

Are they in government and in key financial and business positions that effect the lives of all in Australia?

After all it was the Australian government that condoned the 'White Australia' policy.

After all it was the mining magnate Langley Hancock, father of Gina Rinehart, that wanted to commit genocide on the Indigenous Australian's, calling them a 'problem'.

So, YES 'white supremacists' are a growing threat to social cohesion in Australia.

Bureaucrats to decide if police investigate Bishop over expenses

In Australia, the police are supposed to be independent, and charge ANYONE who has committed crimes, fraud, theft or any other criminal activity, irrespective of what position in society they hold.

In actual fact, what they (the police) are supposed to do, and what they actually do are two different things.

In Australia, the criminal elite are involved in politics, defrauding the masses of literally hundreds of millions of dollars annually in each state, without the intervention of police.

The police are totally 'owned' by politicians, and the banks.

It's not a 'conspiracy theory' but rather a fact.

The headline article from The Age publication illustrates that the bureaucrats will decide whether to lay charges against Bronwyn Bishop, and NOT the corporation commonly referred to as the 'police'.

Wouldn't it be that easy if that was the case with ALL you (unlawful) speeding fines.

Australia's politicians are literally the criminal elite, untouchable by law.

From The Age on 18 Jul 2015:

Bronwyn Bishop expense scandal investigation in the hands of Finance Department

Labor asks AFP to investigate Bronwyn Bishop

The Speaker's alleged misuse of taxpayer funds during a helicopter ride to Geelong may come under the scrutiny of the Australian Federal Police.

• Bronwyn Bishop ignored Tony Abbott's advice on travel dangers
• Labor calls in police over chopper scandal
• Bronwyn Bishop given chopper ultimatum
• Man who arranged chopper is best friends with Speaker's top adviser

Finance Department bureaucrats will decide whether a police investigation into Bronwyn Bishop's expenses scandal goes ahead.

Labor on Friday asked the Australian Federal Police to investigate whether the federal Speaker misused her taxpayer-funded entitlements when she chartered a $5227 chopper to travel the short distance from Melbourne to Geelong to attend a Liberal Party fundraiser.

Speaker Bronwyn Bishop. Photo: Andrew Meares
 

The Australian Federal Police says it has also received a number of referrals from members of the public concerning the scandal.

But it says the ball is in the Finance Department's court.

"There is a protocol – the Minchin Protocol – which was established in 1998 to handle complaints regarding the use of entitlements by federal parliamentarians," and AFP spokesman said.

Bronwyn Bishop arrives by helicopter at a golf course for a Liberal fundraiser. Photo: Twitter @neilremeeus

"This is the agreed protocol for dealing with matters of this nature."

Under the protocol – named after former finance minister Nick Minchin – the department will conduct an internal audit to determine whether the allegations are credible. If it decides there has been serious and deliberate wrongdoing it can refer the case back to the police.

But it's understood Labor is not happy with the AFP's response and will write to it again on Saturday asking for clarification.

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is expected to make a statement on Bronwyn Bishop on Saturday. Photo: James Brickwood
 

Prime Minister Tony Abbott is expected to make his first public comments about the scandal later on Saturday. But Fairfax Media understands he is standing by his Speaker.

At a closed door event on Friday Mr Abbott reportedly dismissed the scandal as "village gossip". However the Prime Minister's office says that was not an accurate reflection of what he said.

Coalition ministers and MPs are quietly furious that the scandal has derailed their attacks on Labor over union corruption, and some have described her position as increasingly untenable.

But Finance Minister Mathias Cormann says he strongly disagrees with that assessment.

"From where I sit Bronwyn Bishop is doing a very good job as Speaker," he told Sky News on Saturday. "The key here is the Speaker has reimbursed the claim."

Mrs Bishop caved to political and public pressure and paid back the money, along with a $1300 fine, but has admitted no wrongdoing.

Labor believes the case hinges on whether Mrs Bishop signed a Presiding Officer's Charter Certification form. The form requires the Speaker to confirm that a charter is for her "office holder duties" and states that knowingly giving false or misleading information is a serious criminal offence.

Senator Cormann said he would have no oversight or involvement with his department's investigation.
Independent senator Nick Xenophon hopes the "choppergate" scandal will be a catalyst for broader changes to entitlements. He wants greater transparency and an independent umpire to deal with complaints. He also wants tougher penalties when mistakes are made.

Labor wrote to the AFP shortly after Fairfax Media exclusively revealed that the political lobbyist who was paid to arrange the chopper was the best friend of Mrs Bishop's most senior adviser, chief of staff and spokesman Damien Jones.

Late on Friday Mr Jones said Mrs Bishop would not comment on the referral until the AFP decided whether to investigate.