Chalerm vows to help get Thaksin pardoned
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung yesterday vowed to rectify the conviction of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, though he said he was not quite what action he would take.
"This is a big issue and I need time to think things through," he said.
Chalerm explained that Thaksin had not been found guilty of corruption and that the Supreme Court's verdict was about the violation of constitutional edicts.
However, he did not clarify how he deduced that the verdict was related to constitution-related offences when the judicial decision was based on conflict-of-interest provisions prescribed by the anti-graft law.
In 2008, Thaksin was sentenced to two years in jail in relation to the Ratchadaphisek land deal involving his now ex-wife Pojaman na Pombejra, he said.
The Civil Court later cancelled this deal, hence Thaksin's guilty verdict in connection with the deal deserved a new judicial review, he said. However, Chalerm admitted that he was uncertain if the high court would allow a fresh inquiry.
Reacting to Democrat MP Thaworn Senneam's fight against Thaksin being pardoned, he said he still believed a fugitive was entitled to clemency without having to serve time in jail.
Even though a classified report compiled by the Interior Ministry under Thaksin's rule said a fugitive could not be granted pardon, Chalerm insisted that this was not applicable to the former premier.
Past reviews on pardon and amnesty should be viewed on a case-by-case basis because no blanket standard can be applicable to every case, he said.
He reiterated that the 2007 and 2010 decrees on pardon did not specify that clemency was limited only to inmates, and blamed the previous Democrat-led government for putting the pardon petition on hold. He said the red-shirt movement had submitted a petition seeking Thaksin's pardon three years ago, but nothing had been done about it.
He reminded the Democrats that this government had not initiated the pardon review, but insisted that it would ensure that all legal principles are complied with when deciding its next move on the Thaksin case.
Chalerm also dismissed allegations that the government was following Thaksin's instructions to bring about his pardon.
Pheu Thai MP Apiwan Wiriyachai said he did not agree with the guilty verdict against Thaksin, adding that since the land deal had been cancelled, it should be the grounds for another judicial review and that the former PM should be acquitted as the deal never took place.
However, Thaworn said Apiwan was mixing up two separate judicial decisions. He explained that the high court had ruled to penalise Thaksin for conflict of interest and based on this decision, the lower court then cancelled the land deal. The deal collapsed with Thaksin's conviction and hence it was unjustified to use the subsequent decision to overturn the previous verdict, he said.
Rak Santi MP Purachai Piumsomboon said Thaksin had received an honorary doctorate on criminology and should be in a position to personally decide how he would face up to his legal wrangling. For instance, South African leader Nelson Mandela spent several years in jail in order to overcome his political adversity and become a great leader, he said.
The justice minister's secretary, Thirachai Wuthitham, said Thaworn had made misleading remarks when he claimed that only inmates could be entitled to a pardon.
Under Article 259 of the Criminal Procedural Code, convicts are allowed to seek royal clemency, Thirachai said, adding that this pardon process could also apply to convicts who are not in correctional facilities.
In addition, there is no law banning pardon for convicts, regardless of whether they serve the jail term, he said.
Thirachai said that granting a pardon was His Majesty's prerogative, adding that former attorney-general Komain Patarapirom had been granted a royal pardon following his suspended jail term.
Meanwhile, the 10-member committee appointed by Justice Minister Pracha Promnok to look into the red shirts' petition for Thaksin's royal pardon will meet this afternoon to set the framework of its mission, the panel's chairman Asst Prof Wuthisak Lapcharoensap said yesterday.
Wuthisak, who is rector of Ramkhamhaeng University's Faculty of Political Science, said the panel would study the Pracha's order to set up the committee and determine the scope of its work.
