An Australian journalist facing defamation charges in Thailand says he is prepared for the consequences ahead of a court hearing on Tuesday.
Alan Morison, the editor of online news website Phuketwan, and colleague Chutima Sidasathian, have been charged with criminal defamation and breaches of the Thai Computer Crimes Act.
If found guilty Mr Morison, 67, and Ms Chutima face lengthy jail terms of up to seven years, as well as fines.
The charges were brought by the Royal Thai Navy, after Phuketwan in 2013 republished exerts of a Reuters newsagency report alleging links between Thai security forces and the smuggling of Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar.
Reuters reporters received a Pulitzer Prize for journalism for their investigation.
Mediation efforts have failed to settle the dispute, with human rights groups calling for the charges to be dropped.
Mr Morison says he and Ms Chutima are ready to stand trial, ahead of the court hearing in Phuket on Tuesday.
"We've always been prepared for the consequences, and we hope that justice prevails and that we're found innocent fairly speedily on the basis of the evidence," Mr Morison told AAP.
The court hearing comes just two months after Thai authorities uncovered mass graves, mostly of Rohingya Muslims, in border regions between Thailand and Malaysia.
Thai investigations have since led to the arrest of more than 70 people - including local government officials - for involvement in human trafficking.
International rights groups and journalists associations have voiced their support for the Phuketwan journalists.
The International Commission of Jurists called the criminal prosecution a violation of international law.
Executive director of the Committee to Protect Journalists, Joel Simon, said the legal threat against Morison and Chutima is intended to discourage journalists from probing the politically sensitive issue of human trafficking in Thailand.
Mr Morison and Ms Chutima face three days of hearings this week, with a final judicial ruling expected within 30 days.
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