Thailand’s attorney general’s office has announced its consideration for prosecuting former Thai premier, Thaksin Shinawatra, over an alleged insult to the monarchy, an official announcement stated on Tuesday. The potential charges come at a time when Shinawatra is being considered for release under parole.
The offense in question emanates from a 2015 interview Shinawatra gave while in South Korea. In the interview, Shinawatra suggested that Thailand’s Privy Council, which advises the nation’s constitutional monarch, orchestrated the 2014 Thai military coup that removed his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra, from Government. This has led to charges of breaching Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code.
The former Thai prime minister’s potential prosecution follows a week after Move Forward, the largest party in Thai parliament, was forced to abandon its attempts to reform the country’s lese-majesty law after Thailand’s constitutional court ruled the party’s pledge to reform the royal insult law as unlawful.
Thaksin Shinawatra, who served as prime minister from 2001 to 2006, returned to Thailand in August 2023 after 15 years of exile to serve an eight-year sentence for abuse of power. However, the sentence was commuted to one year by the monarchy. Despite this, he has been detained at a hospital and has yet to spend time in prison.
For more in-depth coverage, you can read the full report here.