Justice must be seen to be done

But the OAG hasn’t set aside anything to bring back Thaksin to serve his time, despite being sentenced by the same court to two years in jail for the same crime of corruption.

Many say that Thaksin shouldn’t serve time, because he’s innocent and the verdict was a political one – which may be. But if so, then the solution is to amend the judicial system to be free of political interference – not to accept only those verdicts with which one agrees.

The executive arm’s selective acceptance of judicial decisions is playing with fire. In an earlier case, Thaksin was acquitted of tax evasion even though it was proven beyond doubt that he’d parked billions in assets in the names of his maid and driver, as his hired help regularly transferred dividends and interest earned from their accounts to his. This parking of assets meant that he paid much lower taxes than he should have, and is highly illegal because it is like stealing from taxpayers. Say the next PM agrees that the acquittal in the tax case was political; should he, then, bypass the verdict, and jail Thaksin for it, and if so, on what grounds?

I suggest that PM Yingluck is duty-bound to follow the judiciary’s verdicts regardless of her personal feelings. She must apply the rule of law and should work with all parties to de-politicise the judiciary so justice may not only be done, it may be seen to be done. 

Burin Kantabutra

Bangkok