Researcher Arrested Charged In Thailand Over Mcmc Criticism

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Political commentator and academic researcher Murray Hunter was detained for 48 hours and charged in Thailand over his criticisms of the MCMC.
ADSHunter, who is an Australian national, was eventually released on bail yesterday after being detained on Sept 29, and is awaiting trial on Nov 17, where he claims that the MCMC will be called as the accuser.
In a phone interview with Malaysiakini today, Hunter claimed that the Thai police had been acting on MCMC’s orders. He claimed that he had been charged with defamation over several of his blog articles, which had criticised the Malaysian authorities.
“But if my articles are not defamatory in Malaysia, how can they be considered defamatory in Thailand? The Malaysian government’s and MCMC’s objective is to bully and intimidate people, and they called on the Thai police to do their work,” he said.
“In fact, I do not think that the Thai police even understand why they’re arresting me. They only told me that I had been charged with defamation.
“They could barely pronounce the titles of my articles in English. They all barely speak English and have only repeatedly been telling me that I had been arrested for defamation,” he added.
Charged with defamation
In official court documents and police reports sighted by Malaysiakini, Hunter had been charged under Section 328 of the Thai Criminal Code with defamation, where four of his Substack articles have been quoted as defamatory material.
The documents also included links to Hunter’s Substack posts, where he had criticised the MCMC, the Malaysian police, and Umno leaders as allegedly flaunting the constitution for their own benefit and disregarding public interests.
The documents described Hunter’s blog posts as a criminal offence, which has caused the victim to suffer reputational damage, contempt, and/or hatred.
Hunter denied all charges.
“Prior to the arrest, the MCMC had been sending people to my house in Thailand for months. I have also frequently checked with the local Thai police if there had been an arrest warrant for me, but I have been told not to worry.
“But when I was at the airport two days ago, initially planning to head to Hong Kong, I was suddenly approached by the police and arrested on charges of defamation,” he explained.
ADSMounting defence
The official documents show that Hunter had been detained by the authorities on Sept 29 at the immigration lobby of Bangkok Suvarnabhumi airport, and was then taken to Yannawa Police Station.
The documents also show that the Thai authorities had acted upon an arrest warrant against Murray, issued by the Bangkok South Criminal Court in March this year.
Nevertheless, Hunter confirmed that he has already officially begun working with his legal defence team in Thailand, and that several prominent Malaysian lawyers have also agreed to support his case.
He expressed strong hopes that the charges would eventually be dropped against him, arguing that it would be difficult for the Thai authorities to find him guilty of the “defamatory offences” which he had allegedly committed abroad.
3R probe
In March 2024, the Malaysian police initially lodged a “3R probe” against Hunter for his alleged criticism of matters concerning race, religion, and royalty.
Such cases are usually handled by a special team in Bukit Aman called the Classified Investigation Unit.
Former IGP Razarudin HusainThen-inspector-general of police Razarudin Husain had also announced that the Malaysian police had requested Interpol’s assistance to locate Hunter, whom they believed was residing in Bangkok.
In April 2024, the MCMC similarly lodged a police report against Hunter for his slanderous blog posts. MCMC claimed that Hunter had openly accused the commission of acting beyond its jurisdiction for personal interests, and that the commission and the police were trying to scare the public.
Lawyers for Liberty had then criticised the move as clamping down on free speech and criticism, describing it as “unfair” for the public to receive a police complaint from a major public body, such as the MCMC.
Hunter added, “On Nov 17, it will be in the Thai court, and the MCMC will be called up to say whatever they have to say against me. I already have lawyers in Thailand, but I also have very prominent Malaysian lawyers who can act as witnesses to say that what I’ve written in Malaysia is not defamatory.”
Malaysiakini has contacted MCMC for comment and is awaiting a response. - Mkini

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