World Bulletin / News Desk

The authorities in Thailand are threatening journalists who published a report suggesting that the Thai government was helping human traffickers kidnap and ransom Rohingya Muslims who are escaping from persecution in their home country Myanmar.

The Thai navy had previously sued the website that published the report, Phuketwan, for criminal defamation. Australian Alan Morison, the website editor, said that he was prepared to go to jail for the report. He also said the crackdown on him and colleague Chutima Sidasathian was an attack on media freedom.

"Chutima and I have been charged under two of the most severe and contentious laws in the country and we face seven years in jail. We run a small website. The navy is using a sledgehammer to crack a little walnut," Morison told Al Jazeera.

The report published by the website suggested that the Thai authorities were handing over Rohingya Muslims who had fled to Thailand to traffickers who would then hold them hostage in camps deep in the jungle, under poor conditions, until a ransom was paid.

Those who were able to escape the camps told of hundreds who were still inside the camps.