FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Peace TV suspension nothing to do with politics, says Prayut

Peace TV suspension nothing to do with politics, says Prayut

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has denied ordering that Peace TV, a satellite-based station run by red-shirt leaders, be pulled off the air for 30 days.

The suspension of the red-shirt channel has been seen as an attempt to choke off support for former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra ahead of the August 25 announcement of the Supreme Court’s verdict in her case. 
Yingluck is accused of negligence for allegedly failing to prevent corruption in her government’s rice price-pledging scheme.
Prayut said on Thursday that if the suspension order against Peace TV had anything to do with the August 25 verdict reading, then “all media” should have been ordered closed. 
Then “the reporters would all lose their jobs and there would be no one asking me questions,” he said. 
The National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) ordered the station’s suspension on Wednesday, saying two programmes it aired on July 4 and July 9 featured content “deemed intended to overthrow the constitutional-monarchy regime and affect national security, public order and good public morals”. 
Prayut said the channel had violated NBTC regulations and the suspension had nothing to do with politics. 
“Do I have to instruct them on everything? They [the NBTC] did their job. If they don’t, they will be negligent in their duty,” he said.

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