Ex-PM Thaksin to be indicted for Royal defamation
BANGKOK: Thai prosecutors said Wednesday former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be indicted for defaming the monarchy, three months after he was freed on parole on other charges.
Thaksin will not yet be indicted because he had filed a request to postpone his original appointment on Wednesday with proof that he has COVID-19, Prayuth Bejraguna, a spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General, said.
The attorney general’s office scheduled a new appointment for Thaksin’s indictment on June 18, Prayuth said, adding that Thaksin will also be indicted for violating the Computer
Crime Act. The law on defaming the monarchy, an offense known as lese majeste, is punishable by three to 15 years in prison. It is controversial not only because critics consider it harsh, but also because they charge it is used for political purposes to punish government critics.
Thaksin was ousted by a military coup in 2006. His opponents then had accused him of disrespecting King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016. Thaksin’s ouster set off years of struggle between his supporters and his opponents, who were generally staunch royalists. The political polarization led to unprecedented public debate about the monarchy’s role, which sharpened when student-led protests for greater democracy took the the streets in 2020.
Thaksin had been in self-imposed exile since 2008, but returned to Thailand in August last year to begin serving an eight-year sentence on charges related to corruption and abuse of power. He was released on parole in February from the hospital in Bangkok where he spent six months serving time for corruption-related offenses. On his return, he was moved almost immediately from prison to the hospital on grounds of ill health, and about a week after that King Maha Vajiralongkorn reduced his sentence to a single year.
Thaksin’s return was interpreted as part of a political bargain between the Pheu Thai Party and their longstanding rivals in the conservative establishment to stop the progressive Move Forward Party from forming a government after its victory in last year’s general election.