2d South East Asia Media Legal Defense Network (SEAMLD) Conference
Monday, 26 October 2009
6:00 pm Welcome dinner at hotel (Wang Shan Lo Chinese Cuisine)
Tuesday, 27 October 2009
8:30 am Registration (Royal Hall, Tower 1, 5th fl)
8:45 am Welcome remarks
Harry Roque, Chairman, Center for International Law (CenterLaw)
Peter Noorlander, Legal Director, Media Legal Defense Initiative (MLDI)
Clauspeter Hill, Director, Rule of Law Programme in Southeast Asia, Konrad Adenauer Stiftung (KAS)
9:00 am Keynote Address
Vergel O. Santos, Board of Directors, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, and Chairman, Editorial Board, BusinessWorld, Philippines
9:30 am Update/Overview/Conference Objectives
A review of activities since the 1st South East Asia Media Defense Conference 2007 in Hong Kong and a summary of Country Reports
Speakers
H.R. Dipendra, Network Coordinator, SEAMLDN
Sejal Parmar, Senior Legal Counsel, Article 19, U.K.
10:15 am Coffee/Tea Break
10:30 am Session 1: Legal Defense and Public Responsibility: The Struggle for Public Opinion
Speaker
Dr. Peter Schiwy, media lawyer and professor at German School of Administrative Sciences, Munich
Respondent
Jack Tsen-Ta Lee, Assistant Professor of Law, Singapore Management University
11:30 am Session 2: Targeting the Messengers, Murder and Other Impunities Against the Media
Speaker
Melinda Quintos de Jesus, Executive Director, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
12:00 pm Session 3: Trial defense session: Libel Defense : A Comparative Approach (including tactic sharing)
Moderator
Tim Robertson, Barrister, Frederick Jordan Chambers, Sydney, Australia
Speakers
Joel R. Butuyan, Director, CenterLaw (Philippines)
Fahri Azzat, lawyer, Malaysia
Bayu Wicaksano, Senior Legal Staff, Tempo Inti Media, Indonesia
Ang Hean Leng, Centre for Media and Communication Law, University of Melbourne
2:45 pm Session 4: The Impact of Media Defense in South East Asia
Moderator
Roby Alampay, Executive Director, Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA)
Speakers
Alex Adonis and Joaquin Briones, journalists, Philippines
Peter Low, Partner, Colin Ng & Associates, Singapore
Virak Ou, President, Cambodian Center for Human Rights
M. Margiyono, Advocacy Coordinator, Alliance of Journalists Indonesia
4:00 pm Session 5: Freedom of Information
Moderator
Sejal Parmar, Article 19
Speakers
Tanti Budi Suryani, Program Officer FOI, Tifa Foundation, Indonesia
Ed Lingao, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
HR Dipendra, Network Cordinator, SEAMLDN
Harry Roque, CentreLaw, Philippines
5:15 pm Session 6: The War Against Terror, National Emergencies, Armed Conflict and the Media
Moderator
Harry Roque, Centre Law, Philippines
Speakers
Julie Alipala, Philippine Daily Inquirer
Romel Bagares, Executive Director, Centerlaw
Aung Htoo, Burmese Lawyer Council
Wong Chin-Huat, columnist and lecturer, Monash University Malaysis Campus
Long Panhavuth, Cambodia Justice Initiative
6:30 pm Dinner at hotel (Sparks, 38th/F)
Wednesday, 28 October 2009
9:00 am Session 7: Decriminalizing Libel and Abuse of Libel Prosecution: Towards a common construction of freedom of expression
Moderators
Peter Noorlander, Media Legal Defense Initiative
Doreen Weisenhaus, Director, Media Law Project, University of Hong Kong
Speakers
Sejal Parmar, Article 19
Prof. Diego Rodriquez-Pinzon, Academy of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, American University College of Law
Harry Roque, CentreLaw, Philippines
Dr. Peter Schiwy, German School of Administrative Sciences, Munich
Solomon Tamarabrakemi Ebobrah, PhD, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa
10:30 am Session 8: Online Speech — Blogging and the Net: Challenges to Media Freedoms and Responsibilities
Moderator
Tim Robertson, Barrister, Frederick Jordan Chambers, Sydney, Australia
Speakers
Sarinee Achavanuntakul, Thailand
Brendan Navin Siva, Partner, Kadir, Andri & Partners, Malaysia
Ellen Todesillas, Philippines
Ang Hean Leng, Centre for Media and Communication Law, University of Melbourne
11:15 am Coffee/Tea Break
11:30 am Session 9: Advocacy I: The Role of Advocacy/Case Studies on Coordination Between Lawyers and Advocacy Groups
Moderator
Roby Alampay, SEAPA
Speakers
Chavarong Limpattamapaness, Thai Journalists Association
Prima Jesusa Quinsayas, legal counsel, Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists, Philippines
Peter Low, Partner, Colin Ng & Associates, Singapore
Dean Luis Teodoro, Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility, Philippines
1:00 pm Lunch
2:15 pm Session 10: Advocacy II: Lobbying Legislatures and Governments
Moderator
H.R. Dipendra, Network Coordinator, SEAMLDN
Speakers
Agus Sudibyo, Indonesia (on the successful campaign to stop the Indonesian Secrecy Act)
Rowena Paraan, research director, National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (on the lobby to stop the Right of Reply Bill in the Philippines)
Sinfah Tunsarawuth, on the Thai Journalists Association’s lobbying efforts
Hoi Trinh (on options for advocates in a restricted country like Vietnam)
Yim Sovann, MP for Phnom Penh, Cambodia (to introduce the initiative to form a South East Asia Legislators Caucus for Rights and Free Expression)
4:00 pm Session 11: Breakout Sessions
1. Trial Observations:
Jenny Marsh, Simpson Thacher Fellow, International Bar Association
Peter Noorlander, Media Defense Litigation Initiative.
2. Contempt power, administration of justice and the media
Moderator
Clauspeter Hill, KAS
Speakers
Jake Macasaet, publisher of Malaya/Philippines
Raul Pangalangan, University of the Philippines
Peter Low, Partner, Colin Ng & Associates, Singapore
6:30 pm Dinner
Thursday, 29 October 2009
8:15 am Assembly in Lobby for transportation to Plantation Bay, Mactan, Cebu.
Plantation Bay Resort, Mactan, Cebu
10:00 am Session 12: The ASEAN Charter and the ASEAN Human Rights Body
Moderator
Raul Pangalangan, Professor of Law, University of Philippines
Speakers
A. Existing Models for an ASEAN Human Rights Body
Prof. Diego Rodiguez-Pinzon, Academy of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law, American University Washington College of Law
Peter Noorlander, Legal Director, Media Legal Defense Initiative
Solomon Tamarabrakemi Ebobrah, Centre for Human Rights, University of Pretoria, South Africa
B. What the ASEAN Human Rights Body Will Be
Braema Mathiaparanam, chairperson, Singapore Working Group on the ASEAN Charter
C. Responses from Civil Society
Tan Hsien Li, Asian Society of International Law
Aung Htoo, Secretary-General, Burmese Lawyers Council
Sr. Crescencia Lucero, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
12:00 pm Session 13: Creation of a Media Law Legal Database/Website
Speakers
Doreen Weisenhaus, University of Hong Kong
Jenny Marsh, International Bar Association
12:45 pm Concluding Plenary Session
What’s next for the South East Asia Media Legal Defense Network?
- Formalisation of Network meeting and building capacity in member jurisdictions
- Forward planning/next conference
