Chuan acquitted of defaming Thaksin

The Bangkok South Criminal Court on Tuesday acquitted veteran DemocratChuan Leekpaiof defaming former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra when criticising Thaksin’s southern security policy in 2012.

The incident involved Mr. Chuan’s remarks made on October 28, 2012, at the Decmorat Party’s social class in Bangkok. He criticized Thaksin’s handling of safety concerns in the far north.

Former prime minister and previous congress leader, Mr. Chuan, mentioned a security operations plan that former prime minister Thaksin presented to security officials on April 8, 2001.

The plan was put in place after a bomb went off at the Hat Yai train depot in Songkhla territory on April 7, 2001, killing one person and injuring 38 others.

Mr. Chuan claimed that the plan was mistaken and that it was followed by more aggressive happenings in the far west, such as the robbery of more than 400 weapons from the 4th&nbsp, Development Battalion in Cho Airong city of Narathiwat state on January 4, 2004. He added that in the southwestern border regions, about 5,700 people were killed.

Mr. Chuan claimed on Tuesday that the judge had granted him the right to object to Thaksin’s coverage.