5 March 2009

Alert

Swiss TV reporter Christoph Müller arrested, later released but not allowed to leave country


Incident details

Christoph Müller

journalist(s)

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(RSF/IFEX) - Christoph Müller, a leading Swiss TV reporter and producer, was handcuffed and arrested on arrival in Thailand on 27 February 2009. He was freed on bail 24 hours later but the police confiscated his passport and he is not allowed to leave the country until further notice.

His employer, the German-language Swiss TV station SF, has described the measures as a "judicial farce" and out of all proportion to his apparent offence.
The authorities have not told Müller exactly why he was arrested but it appears to be the result of a 2006 complaint about a 2002 report by Müller on a bogus Swiss doctor based in Thailand who was raising funds for a suspect charity.

Reporters Without Borders has called on the Thai authorities to immediately rescind the order banning him from leaving the country and to return his passport.



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