SF chief reporter Müller not allowed to leave Thailand
Christoph Müller, the chief reporter for SF who was arrested in Thailand, is not allowed to leave the country for the time being. On Thursday, the judges will decide whether he must remain at the disposal of the authorities.
Now it is clear who is behind Müller's arrest: Suthasinee Norasing, vice president of the aid organization Care Asia International, which appears in the film in connection with Mösch's machinations, has filed a complaint. Plaintiff Norasing claims to have seen the film "The Very Talented Dr. Roland" in August 2005 in the resort town of Pattaya and considers it defamatory, as reported by the Sunday newspaper.
In the meantime, Müller has been given access to a small part of the files and now has verbal knowledge of the accusations made against him, SF media spokesman David Affentranger told SDA. From the point of view of Swiss television, the accusations are "incomprehensible and not comprehensible," Affentranger said.
Müller is not the first case of a defamation suit
That Thailand does not treat foreigners squeamishly in defamation cases is shown by the case of journalist Hansruedi Fritschi. In 2002, he had published an article about Roland Mösch in the Sonntagszeitung and put copies of it on display at an event of the Swiss Society in Bangkok in April 2003. The article was thus considered to have been published in Thailand and was subject to Thai law.
Like Müller, Fritschi was also charged with defamation by Mösch's entourage. He was not allowed to leave Thailand for 20 months before he was sentenced in 2005: to a conditional prison term of nine months, a fine of 130 francs and 20 hours of community service. The punishment was symbolic, Fritschi tells the Sonntagszeitung, but the proceedings were unpleasant and he had not known for a long time how dangerous his situation was.
