During 2007 and early 2008 several journalists in Thailand expressed alarm at the rapid expansion in the country of Tesco-Lotus, a supermarket chain that is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the British firm Tesco. They said this expansion was driving small “mom and pop” stores out of business. In response, Tesco-Lotus brought a criminal defamation claim against one of the journalists, demanding US$25 million in damages, and a civil defamation claim against a second, for US$2.5 million. A third journalist who commented in respect of these cases that Tesco “did not love Thailand” was also sued, for US$2.5 million. The MLDI has pledged financial support to the three journalists and has been working with their lawyers on their defence. Tesco-Lotus lost the first case and settled the claim against the third, but it continues to pursue the second vigorously.
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About Media Defence Media Defence is a charity that helps media to defend their rights. We support independent media, journalists and citizen journalists who are under legal threat by making sure that lawyers are available to defend them. We engage in strategic litigation to improve the regulatory environment for media freedom, make grants to organisations […]
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