A few days ago The Nation reported that the:
Defence Ministry has found that a falsified military document was used when opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva applied to serve as a lecturer at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.
In its letter to the Office of the Auditor-General, the ministry said discrepancies were found between the Sor Dor 9 conscription document used in Abhisit’s application for the military job and the records at the Conscription Registrar’s Office.
That seems pretty clear and straight forward. The story relates to claims from several years ago that keep coming up, alleging that Abhisit skipped his military duties due to study or similar excuse.
The report was added that: “The ministry said Abhisit should not have been eligible for exemption from military service because he was not studying at the time.” It was added that the “Judge Advocate General’s Department has been instructed to gather more evidence regarding the matter.”
Now The Nation reports the case in a different way, citing Army boss General Prayuth Chan-ocha who has said that the only way to re-open the Abhisit case is for people outside the military to come up with “fresh evidence.” That sounds very much like a cover-up.
Supporting each other?
Prayuth said that the results of a 1999 investigation to the ministry. He stated that”the Army did not have any additional documents or evidence to change its decision to close the case involving Abhisit,” which was to exonerate him.
The Army boss also warned critics like Jatuporn Promphan that “their attempts to sway the judicial decision might lead to a charge of contempt” and warned state media about being “used as the mouthpiece for Jatuporn.” Still sounds like a cover-up.
Puea Thai MP and red shirt Korkaew Pikulthong called on the Army to release documentation from 1999. He added that when Abhisit was “at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy to evade conscription duty,” he “took a leave of absence for 200 days in a year at the job…”.
Will the Army allow the truth to be seen? If they are not covering up, then there should be no reason not to grant Korkaew his request.
