Thailand indicts journalist Murray Hunter on criminal defamation charges at Malaysia’s request

Bangkok, November 20, 2025—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on authorities in Thailand to immediately drop criminal defamation charges against Australian journalist Murray Hunter, return his passport, and stop the country’s courts from serving as vehicles for transnational legal intimidation.

Hunter, a Thailand-based journalist who has contributed to various international news publications, was indicted on criminal defamation charges in Bangkok on November 17 following a complaint by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission regulator, according to multiple news reports, the journalist, and the journalist’s lawyer, who communicated with CPJ via messaging app.

The case was brought by an anonymous representative of the MCMC over four articles published on Hunter’s Substack blog between April 13-29 last year, which were critical of the commission’s actions and alleged politicization.

Thai police said the articles, accessible in Thailand, could incorrectly lead the public to believe that MCMC “operates unlawfully, is not credible, abuses its power, oppresses the public, and is hostile to democratic governance,” according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, a pro bono legal assistance group representing Hunter in the case.

“Thai authorities must drop the criminal defamation case against Murray Hunter and return his confiscated travel documents immediately,” said Shawn Crispin, CPJ’s senior Southeast Asia representative. “Thai laws shouldn’t be used to threaten and try journalists who report critically on the governments and state agencies of other countries. Thai courts shouldn’t be a venue for Malaysia’s SLAPP suits.”

The case appears to be the first time Thailand has applied its criminal defamation law to prosecute a journalist for reporting on a foreign government or state agency, the reports said. The MCMC, Malaysia’s internet and communications regulator, has blocked Hunter’s Substack in Malaysia for three years, according to Hunter and U.S.-based pro-democracy lobby Freedom House.

On September 29, Hunter was detained at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and later released on 20,000 baht (US$620) bail, but remains under travel restrictions ahead of a trial scheduled for December 21.

The journalist faces up to two years in prison if found guilty and a costly trial that could take years to hear, a Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand said in a statement.

The charge follows a Malaysian civil defamation ruling on October 16 last year, which was heard and handed down without Hunter’s knowledge, over his critical reporting about the MCMC, Hunter and his lawyer said.

Hunter’s case raises press freedom concerns about Malaysia’s cross-border use of Thailand’s laws and courts to pursue a journalist for work published outside its jurisdiction.

Malaysia’s MCMC and Thailand’s criminal court did not immediately reply to CPJ’s emailed requests for comment.