Thaksin to be indicted on lese majeste

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From The Nation

Thaksin Shinawatra will be indicted on charges of lese majeste (royal defamation) and computer crime, the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) said on Wednesday.

Attorney General Amnart Jetcharoenrak issued an order to indict Thaksin on both charges on Monday, OAG spokesman Prayut Phetkhun said. The charges stem from an interview Thaksin gave in South Korea in November 2009.

However, the filing of charges in court was today postponed after Thaksin’s lawyer submitted a medical certificate showing his client had contracted COVID-19 and had been advised by a doctor to rest for seven days. The lawyer asked for the indictment hearing to be postponed to June 25. 

After considering the request, the prosecutor granted the postponement and ordered Thaksin to appear at an indictment hearing on June 18.

“Currently, Thaksin is a suspect, which will change to a defendant once the court accepts the case,” the spokesman said.

Police allege Thaksin committed lese majeste in an interview with Time magazine on November 9, 2009.
In 2015, the Army filed a police complaint over the interview. In 2016, the AOG decided there was enough evidence to prosecute Thaksin and issued an arrest warrant. The statute of limitations for the offence is 15 years, starting from 2015.

Thaksin had requested fair treatment in the case after returning from self-exile in August last year, prompting the Office of the Attorney General to investigate again.

Thaksin is currently on parole after serving six months of a one-year jail sentence, commuted from eight years, for abuse of power during his tenure as prime minister from 2001 to 2006.