PUBLISHED: 9 Jul 2024 at 18: 06
The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions on Tuesday rejected an appeal filed by Anurak Tangpanitanon, a previous Pheu Thai MP from Mukdahan state, and upheld a six-year prison sentence over a 5-million-baht reward.
Anurak was prosecuted for demanding the pay from Sakda Wichiansilp, director-general of the Department of Groundwater Resources, in exchange for no trimming the department’s budget planning when Anurak served on the House committee vetting the 2021 budget expenses.
Anurak was found guilty of violating the Criminal Code and the anti-corruption rules on April 25, 2013, by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Persons Holding Political Positions.
The court therefore sentenced him to a six-year prison term and stripped Anurak of his MP position, which he had held since April 19, 2021. Additionally, he was prohibited from voting for ten years and from participating in primaries or holding political office for living. Anurak appealed.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court rejected his charm and upheld the jail sentence.
According to a media source, the court’s appeal panel agreed the investigation of the case by the National Anti-Corruption Commission ( NACC ) was properly conducted.
When Mr. Sakda allegedly lied during a conference with a subcommittee reviewing the budget allocation for his office, claiming a subcommittee part had demanded 5 million ringgit in trade for passing this proposed budget allocation, the scandal surfaced.
The NACC investigated the allegations of reward and filed the situation through the Office of the Attorney-General. The inspection report presently included testimonies from 17 people and 10 papers, which was sufficient to establish the details and decide the defendant’s guilt.
By a bulk voting, the charm panel voted in favor and upheld the decision.
On Tuesday, he was taken to the Bangkok Remand Prison.