Reuters exclusive on civilian deaths in Thailand’s political unrest.

Reuters set the news agenda in Thailand with two exclusives on Dec. 10 that showed the military had played a larger role than officials have acknowledged in civilian deaths during political unrest earlier this year. Reuters accessed two classified reports by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) following days of negotiations with sources. One report showed that special forces positioned on an elevated railway track fired into the grounds of a Buddhist temple where several thousand protesters had taken refuge. Three of six people shot dead at the temple were likely killed by troops, the investigation found, directly contradicting statements by the Thai military. Another report showed that the bullet that killed Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto was most likely fired from the rifle of a Thai soldier. The reports had an immediate and wide-ranging impact. They dominated the media in Thailand and revived international attention on a highly sensitive issue for the Thai government. The story led Singapore’s main TV news bulletins. In the U.K., the Guardian and the Independent ran reports citing the Reuters exclusives. The Bangkok Post ran a front-page story, extensively citing the Reuters exclusive, on whether there will ever be justice for those killed. Thai-language newspapers covered the exclusive extensively. The reports prompted the Committee to Protect Journalists to issue a statement calling on the Thai government to release publicly full details of the investigative report. As of Dec. 13, the Thai government had refused to release the reports, a position that in itself made international headlines.