BANGKOK (AFP): Malaysia has withdrawn a criminal defamation complaint lodged in Thailand against an Australian writer, his lawyer said on Tuesday, after he agreed to apologise and take down articles deemed defamatory.
Human rights and press freedom groups condemned the charges brought last year against Murray Hunter following a complaint from Malaysia's communications regulator, calling its lawsuit a cross-border threat to freedom of expression.
The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) filed the suit against Hunter, who lives in Thailand, over four articles published on his Substack blog in April 2024.
The commission alleged Hunter's writing, which accused it of abuse of power, illegally blocking critical websites and "subverting democracy", was defamatory.
Hunter was arrested in September 2025 at a Bangkok airport while attempting to board a flight, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, which represented his legal defence.
He was detained overnight and then released on bail with his passport seized.
His charge of criminal defamation carried a maximum prison sentence of two years and a fine of up to 200,000 baht ($6,400).
But Hunter and the MCMC agreed to a settlement last month, with Hunter issuing a public apology and removing the allegedly defamatory articles from his blog.
"In mediation, I couldn't negotiate on an equal one-to-one basis because I have criminal charges on me and they don't," Hunter, 68, told AFP on Tuesday.
His lawyer in Thailand, Akarachai Chaimaneekarakate, said the MCMC had withdrawn both a civil defamation case in Malaysia and a criminal defamation case in Thailand as a result of the mediation.
Freedom of expression group PEN International welcomed the case's conclusion, but reiterated concern that it "constituted a transnational SLAPP (strategic lawsuit against public participation), involving coordinated civil and criminal actions across jurisdictions".
The group said it opposed the "use of criminal defamation and strategic lawsuits to silence writers and journalists", urging governments not to use defamation laws to "suppress public interest expression or enable cross-border repression".
Hunter said he now planned to write a book about SLAPP cases, and work with Thai rights lawyers to "try and get the law changed" so defamation in Thailand is no longer a criminal offence.
"I really don't want any journalist to go through what I went through," he said.
"I don't want other people to fall into this trap." -- AFP
