Lawyer Theerayut Suwankesorn has filed a petition with Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) against multiple members of parliament (MPs) from the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP), as reported by the Thai state news agency, National News Bureau of Thailand (NNT).
The petition brings under scrutiny 44 MPs from the MFP for alleged violations of ethical conduct. It follows a previous petition filed a day earlier by activist Ruangkrai Leekitwattana with the Thai Election Commission (EC), which requested the dissolution of the MFP.
These legal moves appear to stem from a recent decision by the Thai Constitutional Court against the MFP. The court upheld the country’s lese-majeste law against any amendments proposed by the MFP, thereby protecting the law that levies high penalties for insulting or defaming the monarchy. The court asserted that any attempts by the MFP to amend the lese-majeste law would be seen as efforts to overthrow the country’s constitutional monarchy.
The MFP had proposed revisions to section 112 of the penal code, colloquially referred to as the lese-majeste law. Their suggested alterations included reducing the sentence for convictions under section 112 and limiting the right to file complaints under this section to the royal household alone.
The MFP have argued that the lese-majeste law is frequently exploited for political purposes. This was highlighted last year when a human rights attorney was sentenced to six years imprisonment under section 112 on charges of “insulting the monarchy”. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights have reported that in December 2023 alone, 262 Thai citizens were prosecuted in 287 separate cases under the lese-majeste law.
Further coverage of this story can be found at the original report here.