Ruling party MP Pareena suspended, set to face court on encroachment charges
The Supreme Court accepted the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)’s lawsuit against Palang Pracharath MP Pareena Kraikupt on Thursday morning, and subsequently suspended the MP from her duties.
Pareena had made national headlines last year when NACC found her guilty of severe ethical misconduct after her poultry farm was found to be sitting on plots intended for landless farmers as well as encroaching into national forest reserves in Ratchaburi’s Chom Bung district.
The anti-graft agency took the case to Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders and the MP is scheduled to face the court on April 30.
RFD has also filed four charges against Pareena, namely trespassing on national forest reserves; residing, building or making profits off reserved forest land; defacing or destroying state-owned land without permission; and extracting underground water without permission.
The penalty for these charges is up to 20 years in prison and/or a fine between Bt200,000 and Bt2 million.