BANGKOK (AP) — Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was indicted and arraigned Tuesday on charges of defaming the country’s monarchy in one of several legal cases that have rocked Thai politics. He was released on bail.
Thaksin is the unofficial power behind the governing party, Pheu Thai, although he was ousted from power in a coup 18 years ago.
He presented himself to prosecutors Tuesday morning and was charged, Prayuth Bejraguna, a spokesperson for the attorney general’s office, said at a news conference.
Thaksin, 74, returned to Thailand voluntarily last year from self-imposed exile and served almost his entire sentence on corruption-related charges in a hospital rather than prison. for medical reasons. It was granted parole in February.
Since then, Thaksin has maintained a high profile, touring the country make public appearances and political observations that could upset the powerful conservative establishment that was behind his ouster in 2006.
His removal from power triggered deep political polarization in Thailand. Thaksin’s opponents, who were generally staunch royalists, accused him of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for then-king Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016.
Prosecutions in the old lese majeste case is seen by some analysts as a warning from Thaksin’s enemies to moderate his political activities.
Thaksin’s lawyer, Winyat Chatmontree, told reporters that Thaksin was prepared to take legal action. The criminal court, where Thakisin was arraigned after being charged, said Thaksin’s bail was approved with a bond of 500,000 baht ($13,000) on the condition that he cannot leave Thailand without court approval. His passport was confiscated.
The law on defamation of the monarchy, an offense known as lèse majesté, is punishable by three to 15 years in prison. It is one of the harshest laws of its type in the world and is increasingly used in Thailand to punish critics of the government.
Winyat said his client “is not worried and he has always maintained that he has done nothing wrong. He came here with full confidence to defend his cause.
Thaksin was initially charged with lese majeste in 2016 for comments he made a year earlier to journalists in South Korea. The case was not pursued at the time because he went into exile in 2008 to avoid being sanctioned in cases he described as political.
His case is just one of several that have complicated Thai politics since the Pheu Thai government took office after the Senate – a conservative body appointed by the military – blocked successfully the progressive Advance party, which received the most votes, to take power last year.
Move Forward now faces dissolution after the Electoral Commission asked the Constitutional Court to determine whether she was guilty of trying to overthrow the system of constitutional monarchy by campaigning to change the lèse-majesté law.
Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin, originally from Pheu Thai, under investigation over Cabinet appointment who had been imprisoned for corruption. If found guilty, Srettha could be forced from his post.
Thailand’s courts, particularly the Constitutional Court, are seen as bulwarks of the royalist establishment, which has used them and nominally independent state agencies such as the Election Commission to paralyze political opponents.
The Constitutional Court held procedural hearings in the Move Forward and Srettha cases on Tuesday, setting the continuation of the proceedings for July 3 in the first case and July 10 in the second.
The court also ruled Tuesday that regulations governing the partially completed three-stage project voting process to select a new Senate are legal.
The term of the current Senate, appointed by the junta that overthrew the previous Pheu Thai government in 2014, expired last month, opening the possibility of making its composition more democratic.
Forty members of the caretaker Senate were behind the petition against Srettha, a move seen as favoring a pro-military political party within the coalition government.
This situation is a stark reminder of the challenges Pheu Thai has faced since form alliances with old enemies, said Napon Jatusripitak, political science researcher and visiting scholar at the ISEAS-Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore. He added that this also reflects “a very unbalanced balance of power between elected and unelected forces in Thailand.”
“Thai democracy is once again being held hostage by forces that are unaccountable to public interests,” he said.
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