The court acquires Thaksin shinawatra in the royal case insult

A Bangkok court acquitted a controversial billionaire and former Thai Prime Minister Thaikin Shinawatra, accused of insulted the monarchy.

The accusation of Lese Majeste relates to an interview that Mr. Thaksin gave to a South Korean newspaper ten years ago. He would have faced 15 years in prison if he was found guilty.

The law of Lese Majeste in Thailand prohibits anyone from defaming or threatening the royal family. But criticisms say that legislators often use it to target militants and political opponents.

The verdict comes as the daughter of Mr. Thaksin, the Prime Minister suspended Paetongtarn Shinawatra, faces a judicial case which could see her withdrawn from his functions. Cases have been considered a blow for shinawatras, which have dominated Thai politics for decades.

But Friday’s verdict brought a certain relief to the clan and their supporters.

Winyat Charmoneire, an acting lawyer for Mr. Thaksin, told journalists that after the verdict was read in court, Thaksin had smiled and thanked his lawyers. He also said that he could now work for the country’s benefit.

The accusation of Mr. Thaksin was initially deposited under the government then military in 2016, when he was in exile, and reactivated last year after his return to Thailand.

At first glance, the case against him seemed weak.

In the interview with South Korean newspapers, the former Prime Minister said that he believed that the 2014 military coup who filed the elected government of his sister Yingluck – just as he had been filed by a previous coup in 2006 – had been encouraged by “certain people at the palace” and members of the private council, the organization of 19 members who advised the Thai King.

Technically, the Private Council is not covered by the Lese Majeste law, which stipulates that it is an offense to be defamed that the king, the queen, the heir to the throne or anyone acting as a regent.

However, in recent years, the law has been invoked to criminalize any action or declaration which could reflect negatively on the monarchy as an institution.

In the past, people have been prosecuted for making unfavorable comments on the dog of the late King Bhumibol and on a Thai King of the 16th century.

More recently, a young woman has been sentenced to five years in prison for having placed a banner criticizing the budget to help people affected by a cochable near a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn.

The interpretation of the law has become so wide that human rights groups now consider it as a political tool, which can be used to intimidate and silence those who dispute the status quo.

Many thought that was what happened to Mr. Thaksin.

However, the judges chose to literally interpret the label of the law and said that as the defendant had not appointed name, there was no argument to answer.

This verdict comes exactly two years after the dramatic return of the former Prime Minister of 15 years of exile.

At the time, it was assumed that there had been a big deal between Mr. Thaksin and his longtime conservative opponents, so that his Pheu Thai party, which, in the 2023 elections, had been relegated to second place in its usual number one place, could form a coalition government and keep the young reformists who had actually won the elections.

The terms of this good case have never been made public – Mr. Thaksin has always insisted that there was no agreement – but it is likely that they understood a agreement that he would keep a low profile and remain outside politics.

But a low profile is something completely foreign to the flamboyant, rich and ambitious magnate.

He is always considered the largest funder for Pheu Thai and makes all the main decisions for the party.

When his first choice as Prime Minister, the businessman Srettha Thavisin was disqualified by the persistent interventionist Constitutional Court a year ago, the inexperienced daughter of Mr. Thaksin, Paetongtarn, took the bar, becoming the youngest Prime Minister of Thailand.

A self-written “daddy’s girl”, she said she would gladly take her advice. As she took office, Mr. Thaksin announced his “vision of Thailand”, including a controversial proposal aimed at legalizing casinos; Much of this later became an official policy.

The parliamentary opposition accused Shinawatra’s family of having led a “double leadership”. The trade links of Mr. Thaksin with the Cambodian strong man Hun Sen also raised concerns about the closure of his government to defend Thailand about the border dispute between the two countries.

This has reached a head in the private telephone conversation disclosed by Hun Sen in which Paetongtarn was heard referring to him as “uncle”, and criticizing his own army commander on the border, for which she was now suspended by the Constitutional Court.

What happens to Mr. Thaksin in court today, and what happens to his daughter when she faces the final verdict of the Constitutional Court in a week, probably depends on the role of the traditional power brokers in Thailand, near the palace and the military, believe that they should now play.

Losing another Prime Minister after only a year, at a time of great global uncertainty, could be deemed too risky. Even if he is found guilty, Mr. Thaksin could remain outside the prison on bond while he calls.

But he faces other judicial cases later this year. And the price for him to be authorized to stay in prison may be that his party calls for a first election, at a time when its poor performance in the government could allow it to lose many of its seats in Parliament.

Additional Koh Ewe report in Singapore.