A Bangkok court on Friday dismissed the case accusing former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of insulting the Thai monarchy, delivering a significant legal victory for the influential politician.
Thaksin, 76, was indicted last year and faced a maximum sentence of 15 years under Thailand’s royal defamation law, one of the harshest laws of its kind. The charges, widely seen as politically motivated, fit into a decades-long clash between Thaksin and what is described as Thailand’s royalist-military establishment. They stemmed from an interview he gave about a decade ago and were filed by a general on behalf of the military junta then in power.
In Friday’s ruling, the Criminal Court in Bangkok said the interview could have been edited in a way that did not fully reflect his remarks, and it noted that Thaksin did not explicitly mention the monarch at the time.
Context and outlook: The decision highlights the ongoing friction between Thaksin’s political circle and Thailand’s royalist-military forces. The ruling is likely to be cited by supporters as a sign of limits to the application of the royal defamation law, while critics have long argued that such laws are used to stifle dissent.
Summary: The court’s dismissal of the case removes a high-profile royal-defamation charge against Thaksin, underscoring the contentious political dynamics surrounding the monarchy and factional power in Thailand. This development adds a new chapter to a protracted political contest in the country.