Thaksin acquitted of lèse-majesté charge

The Criminal Court today acquitted former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra of lèse-majesté charges, stemming from a 2015 interview with a South Korean media outlet.

The court ruled that the video clip submitted as evidence contained only excerpts of the interview, with limited wording, while it believed the full interview had more content.

Since the prosecution could not prove whether the clip had or had not been edited, and because Thaksin’s statements were not specifically directed at the King, the court extended the benefit of the doubt to the defendant and acquitted him.

Thaksin, who attended the closed-door reading of the verdict at the court, was seen leaving without speaking to the waiting media.

Thaksin’s lawyer, Winyat Chartmontri, stated that an appeal would depend on whether the case met the legal criteria. He viewed the court’s reasoning for the acquittal as comprehensive, leaving the decision over any further litigation to the prosecution.

According to the Court's ruling document, the Court viewed that although the prosecution’s witness testified that the video clip did belong to the defendant, and although the full version of the clip was unavailable, the defendant admitted that the person and voice in the clip were his.

Therefore, the Court accepted that it was indeed a genuine interview, not an edited clip.

However, upon examining the statements in the clip, the court found that the language used did not contain words or royal terminology that would clearly indicate a direct reference to the King.

Instead, the pronoun “he” was used, along with references to the Privy Council, the military, the “Palace Circle,” and “people in the palace.”

The Court further noted that the prosecution’s expert linguistic witness was the only one of his kind, while another witness, who was politically biased as a former participant in anti-Thaksin protests, had to be treated with caution.

Therefore, it could not be concluded that an ordinary, reasonable person would interpret the statements as the witnesses had.

As for the police witnesses, they unanimously admitted that the clip could not be confirmed as the original and the source of the clip’s online distribution could not be traced.

Meanwhile, in reviewing the Facebook and YouTube pages that had circulated the clip, the court found that listeners who had heard it from the beginning understood it as Thaksin criticizing the coup and military takeover, with references to Suthep Thaugsuban, the military, and the Privy Council.

They did not interpret it as a reference to the King.

Moreover since the prosecution’s evidence was insufficient to meet the burden of proof, the court ruled that the defendant was not guilty of defaming, insulting, or threatening the King.

Regarding the charge of conspiring to threaten the King, the prosecution presented no evidence at all. As for the charge of importing computer data affecting national security, this too was dismissed, as there was no evidence confirming that the statements in question referred to the King.

The lawyer said that, after hearing the verdict, Thaksin smiled and expressed his delight, saying he could return to work for the country.

The acquittal marks a significant victory for Thaksin, who returned to Thailand in 2023 after more than 15 years abroad in self-imposed exile.

The Pheu Thai Party, led by his daughter Paetongtarn, currently leads the governing coalition, but with Paetongtarn currently suspended as prime minister, facing a separate trial over the contents of a phone call with Cambodian leader Hun Sen.

Thaksin is, however, widely believed to be behind key decisions of the administration and the party.