BANGKOK (AP) — Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra He was released on bail just hours after being formally charged on Tuesday with defaming the country’s monarchy, one of a number of cases that have rocked Thai politics.
Thaksin, an influential politician despite being ousted from power 18 years ago, appeared before prosecutors on Tuesday morning and was charged, Prayut Vejraguna, spokesman for the attorney-general’s office, told a news conference.
A car believed to be carrying Thaksin arrived at Bangkok Criminal Court but he did not meet reporters. His lawyer Winyat Chatmontry told reporters that Thaksin was ready to face the legal process. The car left the court a few hours later after Thaksin was released on bail, again without meeting reporters waiting there.
Hours later, the Criminal Court announced that Thaksin’s bail had been approved on a 500,000 baht ($13,000) bond, with the condition that he cannot leave Thailand without court permission.
A later court statement cited several reasons for granting bail, including Thaksin’s age, having a permanent address in Thailand and the absence of objections from prosecutors, and said his passport had been confiscated.
The law defaming the monarchy, known as lèse majesté, is punishable by three to 15 years in prison. It is one of the toughest laws in the world and is increasingly being used in Thailand to punish critics of the government.
Thaksin, now 74, was ousted in a military coup in 2006, sparking deep political polarization for years. His opponents, generally staunch royalists, accused him of corruption, abuse of power and disrespect for then-King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016.
He was originally charged with lese majeste in 2016 for comments he made to South Korean journalists a year earlier. No case was filed at the time because he had gone into exile in 2008 to escape punishment for other legal rulings that he had branded as political.
He voluntarily returned to Thailand last year and was immediately detained on charges related to corruption and abuse of power, but served most of his sentence in hospital rather than in prison. For medical reasonsThere he was Parole was granted During February.
Thaksin is back Putin moved to Thailand after his political party, Pheu Thai, allied with a longtime rival within the conservative establishment to form a government. The punishment he received was minimal. This was interpreted as part of an agreement to exclude the progressive Forward Party, which came in first in last year’s general election, from governing, but the agreement has not been publicly acknowledged.
Thaksin maintains a high profile and is seen as an informal power broker behind the Pheu Thai-led government. He travels around the country. Going out in public and political views that could upset establishment figures.
the result, Prosecution of old lèse majesté cases Some analysts see this as a warning from a powerful opponent to refrain from political activity.
His case is just one of several that have complicated Thai politics since the conservative, military-appointed Senate was abolished and the Pheu Thai government came to power. Advancement blocked Since the government took office last year.
Move Forward is on the brink of disbanding The Election Commission has asked the Constitutional Court to rule on whether the campaign calling for the revision of the lèse majesté law can be charged with plotting to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Surendra Thavisin, from the Pheu Thai Party, Under investigation over ministerial appointments Mr Sletta had been in prison on bribery charges and, if convicted, could be forced out of his job.
Thailand’s courts, particularly the Constitutional Court, are seen as a bulwark of the restorationist regime, which has used nominally independent government institutions such as the courts and the Election Commission to neutralise its political opponents.
The Constitutional Court will hold hearings on both the Move Forward and Sletta cases on Tuesday.
The court also ruled on Tuesday that three partially completed phases of The voting process for selecting new senators It’s legal.
The term of the current senators, who were appointed by the military junta that ousted the former Pheu Thai Party government in 2014, ended last month, opening up the opportunity to make the parliament more democratic.
If the court found it unconstitutional, the voting procedure could be struck down and military-appointed senators would have been able to stay in office temporarily until they were replaced under a new procedure.
The petition against Sletta involves 40 caretaker senators and is seen as a move favouring the pro-military parties in the coalition government.
This situation clearly illustrates the challenges facing the Thai Peace Federation. Form an alliance with an old enemy“This reflects the very unequal power dynamics between elected and unelected forces in Thailand,” said Napong Jatusripitak, a political scientist and visiting fellow at the ISEAS Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.
“Thailand’s democracy is once again being held hostage by forces unaccountable to the public interest,” he said.
___
Read AP’s Asia-Pacific coverage here https://apnews.com/hub/asia-pacific
