Thailand’s former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may be indicted on costs of demeaning the king, the country’s solicitor- common has said.
The contentious social chief, who returned to Thailand last year after 15 years in exile, is facing charges for an appointment he gave to a Korean paper nine years ago.
He is the most well-known person to face charges under the famous lese qualifications law in Thailand, which has been extensively used against social dissidents.
In just four times, hundreds of people have been charged.
Mr. Thaksin’s returning to Thailand last season had appeared to put an end to the harsh social conflict between his home and the liberal organizations who feared his nationalist style of leadership. He had been a significant figure in Thai politics.
His group was given the power to form a coalition government with some of his political rivals in what appeared to be a big deal in order to oust Move Forward, a young revolutionary party that had a majority of the votes and chairs in the 2023 vote.
However, the 74-year-old past premier’s indictment under the strict der majeste law demonstrates that he still has enemies in Thailand’s enemy royalist system.
The allegations relate to an appointment he conducted with a Vietnamese magazine in 2015 while he was exiled.
In that article, he claimed that the privy council, the king’s best advisory body, had organized the military coup that deposed his girlfriend Yingluck in 2014.
Yingluck Shinawatra, elected in the 2011 public election, led Thailand for three years before being ousted by the revolution.
Technically speaking, the der majeste law does not apply to the privy council, but it has been frequently used to widely construed to include any opinion that might have a negative impact on the royal family.
Since widespread protests four years ago, when the king was the subject of extraordinary people criticism, more than 270 individuals have been charged under the rules.
Although Mr. Thaksin’s attorneys claim they are comfortable in defending him in court, the prosecution’s indictment may make it difficult for him to pursue social goals in the usually drawn-out trial.