Prayut Phetcharakhun, spokesman for the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), said yesterday (May 29) that Attorney-General Amnat Chetcharoenrak made the decision on Monday to indict Thaksin on both charges, as proposed by police.
The decision refers to an interview Thaksin gave in Seoul on Feb 21, 2015, reports the Bangkok Post. The computer crime charge stems from Thaksin inputting information into a computer system that was deemed a threat to national security, Mr Prayut said.
However, public prosecutors could not arraign Thaksin to court immediately yesterday because his lawyer submitted a medical certificate showing that he had COVID-19 and needed to rest until next Monday. He sought to postpone the hearing of the indictment to June 15.
Mr Prayut said prosecutors have ordered the paroled former prime minister to appear at the OAG at 9am on June 18 for the indictment process.
On Apr 10, Mr Amnat postponed the decision to yesterday, pending an additional interrogation report from police.
After Thaksin was paroled on Feb 18, police from the Technology Crime Suppression Division took over the lese majeste and computer crime charges and approved his temporary release.
Following the Attorney-General’s announcement, Thaksin’s lawyer Winyat Chartmontri said his client would fight the charges.
“We have to proceed based on our rights in a criminal case,” Mr Winyat said. “Thaksin is ready to prove his innocence in the justice system.”
Thaksin was alleged to have defamed the monarchy in comments made during an interview with South Korea’s Chosun Ilbo newspaper in 2015, during which he claimed privy councillors supported the 2014 coup that ousted the government of his younger sister Yingluck Shinawatra.
Police alleged that the comments made during the interview violated Section 112 of the Criminal Code, also known as the lese majeste law, as well as the Computer Crime Act.