Payap ready to back Thaksin pardon petition

"If the authorities need any proof or evidence of my support for Thaksin's pardon, then I am ready to cooperate," he said.

Payap was reacting to news reports of former justice minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga's remarks on his involvement in the petition spearheaded by the red shirts in 2009 to seek a royal clemency on Thaksin's behalf.

In his Facebook message, Pirapan said Payap's name appeared on the petition, although he did not sign it despite being asked twice if he wanted to render his signature retroactively.

According to Pirapan, should Payap sign the petition and become one of some 2 million co-sponsors, the petition would have qualified as a pardon request under the Criminal Procedural Code. Provisions of the code prescribe for either Thaksin or an immediate family member to initiate the pardon request.

The red shirts cited their citizenship to submit the pardon petition on Thaksin's behalf. Even though every Thai citizen has the right to petition their King, the reds' involvement in seeking Thaksin's pardon has not been sanctioned by the code or existing laws.

Payap said he wanted to act in his capacity as a Thai citizen to secure clemency for Thaksin.

In a related development, Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung said there were no legal provisions banning a pardon for a fugitive like Thaksin. The code prescribes a convict may initiate the pardon process and at the same time does not specifically rule out any fugitives in seeking clemency.

Chalerm said when an amnesty decree was issued in 2006 to mark His Majesty's 80th birthday, its two clauses specified convicts serving time could be eligible for pardon. But this was a one-off case which should not be construed as denying fugitives from benefiting from a blanket pardon, he added.

He insisted the King had the royal mandate to grant a pardon. He reminded all sides not to jump to conclusions on whether or not Thaksin would be included in the pardon review to mark His Majesty's 84th birthday in December.

He said he was in charge of the pardon review but the petition on Thaksin's pardon was still being processed and had not reached him.

He would decide on his next move once he had had a chance to review the petition.

Democrat MP Suthep Thaugsuban said he viewed the red shirts as acting inappropriately to petition for Thaksin's pardon.

Under established legal procedures, only convicted inmates were entitled to apply for clemency, he said.

Since Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra came to power, the government seemed bent on discarding rules and regulations in order to serve Thaksin, he said.

"I don't know whether Thaksin's pardon would be a time bomb for the government," he said, warning that the government should not trouble the King on the clemency issue.