Journalists acquitted of defaming country's navy

An Australian journalist and his Thai colleague were acquitted of criminal defamation on Tuesday over an online news report implicating Thailand's navy in human trafficking.

The pair were also found not guilty of breaching the nation's tough Computer Crimes Act in a high-profile trial that had sparked condemnation from human rights groups and the United Nations.

Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian, of the Phuketwan news website, had faced up to seven years in jail over a July 2013 article quoting a Reuters news agency investigation that said some Thai navy members were involved in trafficking Rohingya Muslims fleeing Myanmar.