A court in Thailand has dismissed a high-profile case against the country’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra over allegations he violated the country’s strict laws on royal insults, the billionaire and his lawyer said.
“The case was dismissed,” Thaksin told reporters with a smile as he left the court house following the verdict on Friday.
The case was brought by the royalist junta alleging that Thaksin, now 76, “had violated Thailand’s strict lese-majeste law during a 2015 interview with foreign media while in self-imposed exile.” This refers to an interview with a Koran outlet.
The criminal court has yet to publicly announce the decision and its reasons for the verdict.
Update 1: The Nation reports:
The Criminal Court delivered its verdict on … Case No. 1860/2567, filed by the prosecutors from the Criminal Litigation Office 8 against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The charges relate to violations of Section 112 of the Penal Code (lèse-majesté law) and the Computer Crime Act, stemming from an interview Thaksin gave to South Korean media in May 2015.
After reviewing the evidence from both the prosecution and defence, the court focused first on whether Thaksin had indeed given the interview in the video clip presented as evidence, and whether the content of the statements matched the accusations in the indictment.
The prosecution presented testimony from police officers and Anant Laolerdvorakul, confirming that the clip indeed showed Thaksin speaking.
Although the full version of the interview was not provided as evidence, the court found that the video and testimony were sufficient to establish that Thaksin had given the interview, and there was no credible evidence to prove the clip had been doctored.
As for the content of Thaksin’s statements, the court examined whether they could be interpreted as defaming, insulting, or inciting hatred against King Bhumibol Adulyadej (King Rama IX).
The court noted that the statements did not directly reference the King by name or use royal language, but rather referred to third parties such as “he,” “councillors,” “soldiers,” “Palace Circle,” and “people in the palace.”
The prosecution’s expert witness on language and other external witnesses were found to have potential biases against Thaksin, and thus their testimony was considered unreliable.
The court further noted that during the investigation, some witnesses, including police officers, had expressed doubts about the sufficiency of evidence to press charges, as the authenticity of the video clip could not be definitively confirmed.
In reviewing the statements, the court found that the video did not suggest that Thaksin was attacking or criticising the King or that the general public would interpret it as such.
Furthermore, upon reviewing Facebook pages and YouTube websites that shared the video interview, it was found that the person who initially shared the video had understood it to be an attack on the coup and the military takeover.
Therefore, the court ruled that the evidence presented by the prosecution was insufficient to prove that Thaksin’s statements amounted to defamation or insult of the monarchy.
Regarding the charge of inciting harm against the King, the prosecution failed to provide any relevant evidence, leading the court to dismiss this allegation.
Similarly, the charge of using the computer system to spread content harmful to national security was rejected, as the court found no grounds for considering Thaksin’s statements as an offence under the Computer Crime Act.
Thus, the court concluded that the charges against Thaksin for defamation and insults to the monarchy, as well as the charge under the Computer Crime Act, were unsubstantiated, and he was acquitted of all charges.
Update 2: As is well known, when not guilty verdicts are rendered in 112 cases, prosecutors will often appeal. So it is that the Bangkok Post reports that the “Attorney General (AG) is under pressure to appeal the Criminal Court’s decision to dismiss the lèse majesté case against former prime minister Thaksin…”.
Interestingly, the Post does not identify who is applying pressure. PPT assumes it is the broad anti-Thaksin movement pushing for an appeal. The story briefly explains the process for an appeal.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 
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