Following the verdict on Friday, Thaksin, 76, smiled as he left the court with the statement, “The case was dismissed.”
According to Thaksin’s attorney Winyat Chatmontree, the court denied the charges brought against him because the evidence presented was insufficient.
Later, the Bangkok criminal court acknowledged that the case had been dropped due to lack of evidence.
After hearing the verdict, Thaksin’s supporters erupted in ovation outside the court. Red shirts, the political party’s official color, were worn by many in the campaign.
Kamol Orahanta, a 66-year-old food vendor, was one of the 150 supporters gathered outside the court, and he claimed, “The court has done its job properly, but I don’t think we can relax yet.”
Kamol told the AFP news agency, “I think there are still some haters who will try to overthrow him through other means.”
Thailand’s interim prime minister Phumtham Wechayachai welcomed the court’s decision in an interview with reporters, but he denied that it would have a political impact because it was a separate judicial proceeding.
Despite the legal difficulties the Shinawatra family faced, Phumtham claimed that his ruling Pheu Thai Party, which was founded by Thaksin, still has “high morale.”
While the Shinawatra family’s political dynasty will benefit from the court’s dismissal on Friday, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, Thailand’s current prime minister, will be facing her own legal reckoning next week with a court ruling that could result in her being removed from office.
The Constitutional Court has suspended Paetongtarn, 39, as prime minister, and she is facing dismissal for an alleged ethics violation involving a phone conversation with former Cambodian leader Hun Sen, which the former Cambodian premier leaked to embarrass the Thai leader.
In September, the Supreme Court will decide whether Thaksin’s six-month hospital stay prior to his release on parole in 2024 for violating his constitutional rights and filing for a conflict of interest charge counted as time served in jail.
Thaksin may have to spend another year in prison if the allegations are brought against him.
When he made comments about a 2014 military coup that overthrew his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, as prime minister, Thaksin allegedly broke Thailand’s strict lese-majeste law in a 2015 interview with foreign media, which was dismissed on Friday.
The palace viewed support for the monarchy as sacrosanct, with Thaksin consistently swearing allegiance to the king, who is referred to in the Thai constitution as having “revered worship.”
In accordance with the contentious lese-majeste laws, which activists claim have been used to silence dissent and sideline political rivals, Thaksin’s case was the most well-known of more than 280 prosecutions in recent years.
According to Thailand’s royalists, such laws must be enforced to safeguard the crown.
Source: Aljazeera
Leave a Reply