By Thai Newsroom Reporters
THE OFFICE OF THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL will remain undecided as to whether to proceed with a lese majeste lawsuit against de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict on parole Thaksin Shinawatra until April 10.
OAG spokesperson Prayut Petcharakhun confirmed today (Feb.19) the agency is not going to decide whether to put forward the lese majeste case against Thaksin who has been granted parole until April 10.
In the meantime, police officers in charge of the criminal case involving the draconian law, also known as Section 112 of the Criminal Code, will investigate further in pursuit of additional evidence pertaining to the verbal statements which the de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict on parole had earlier made and been viewed as allegedly tantamount to lese majeste content, Prayut said.
Nevertheless, the OAG may either proceed with the lese majeste case against the deposed prime minister or simply drop it or probably postpone the decision beyond April 10, given a 15-year litigation period, according to the OAG spokesperson.
The de facto Pheu Thai boss-cum-convict on parole who had earlier filed petition in pursuit of justice over the lese majeste lawsuit had allegedly made the verbal statements in alleged violation of the lese majeste law during an interview with a news agency in South Korea to mark the first anniversary of the 2014 coup staged by army chief-turned-prime minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to oust his sister/former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra.
The unshackled Thaksin who yesterday departed Police Hospital where he has spent a six-month time serving his curtailed, one-year sentence outside of a prison today showed up at an OAG unit to respond to the lese majeste charges and was quickly released under 500,000 baht in bail.
The politically powerful, privileged Thaksin who unusually looked straight-faced and tightlipped with soft splints around his neck and right arm is more or less expected to flex his muscles and put his hands on varied government affairs, albeit in behind-the-scenes, hush-hush fashion, with the Pheu Thai-backed Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin simultaneously running the country.
CAPTIONS:
Top: De facto Pheu Thai boss Thaksin Shinawatra being taken to an OAG office in a wheelchair to respond to the lese majeste charges today, Feb. 19, 2024. Photo: Matichon
Front Page: Thaksin Shinawatra leaves Police Hospital after being granted parole early yesterday morning, Feb. 18, 2024. Photo: Reuters and published by BBC
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