PUBLISHED: 05:11 on September 6, 2023.
According to Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of the Progressive Movement, the new administration really think about passing a new law on Tuesday to pardon everyone who is currently serving time for crimes related to their social activities, irrespective of their associations.
Amnesty for regional cohesion, says Piyabutr.
An pardon, according to Mr. Piyabutr, a law specialist and former teacher at Thammasat University, would be the best way to achieve national unity because it would prevent people from questioning whether former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is enjoying permissions over other prisoners.
Thaksin spent just 13 hours in the quarantine area of Bangkok Remand Prison after his return from a self-imposed exile abroad on August 22. He has since been admitted to the Police General Hospital’s advanced ward.
He was sentenced by the court to provide eight years in prison for three corruption cases upon his return before being granted a royal pardon next week, which reduced the eight-year sentence to just one year.
But, Mr. Piyabutr said that regardless of which political party they belonged to, pardon should be granted to anyone who has been prosecuted for their involvement in any social movement from 2005 to today.
According to him,” this may actually be the first step for Thai society to start fostering national unity and resolving political problems.”
In order to kick off the vote campaign, the MFP proposed a similar pardon for democratic cases last October as it unveiled its plan software.
The show of its proposed reforms was the proposed pardon, especially for political offenders who have been subject to legal action since the 2014 revolution.
During the Yingluck Shinawatra management, which came under fire for attempting to support Thaksin, a similar pardon was promoted in 2013. It served as a prelude to the takeover on May 22, 2014.
Professor at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Law, Asst Prof. Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, is urging the Department of Corrections to determine whether Thaksin is actually sick.
The Ministry of Justice’s fresh rules regarding the hold in outside facilities of sick prisoners who require care that is not accessible at the departmental health service, he said, alluded to the solution.
According to him, it was signed in 2020 by former justice secretary Somsak Thepsutin, who has since become a deputy prime minister in the Pheu Thai Party-led state.