FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Stop campaigning for Article 112 amendment : Army chief

Stop campaigning for Article 112 amendment : Army chief

Army Commander-in-Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha Monday called on the Nitirat group of academics to stop campaigning on lese-majesty law amendment, saying it would lead to confrontation and eventually affect His Majesty.

 

Army Commander in Chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha on Monday called on the Nitirat group of academics to stop campaigning for the lese-majeste law amendment, saying it would lead to confrontation and eventually affect His Majesty.
Prayuth said efforts to amend Article 112 of the Criminal Code always led to confrontations between two groups of people.
The Army chief said both sides should stop their campaigns immediately. While the Nitirat was campaigning for amendment of Article 112, its opponents were raising signatures to oppose the amendment.
Prayuth said no one should use Article 112 as a tool to create turmoil and disturbance and society should not support any efforts to create turbulence on this issue.
He said if conflicts occur, certain persons would blame His Majesty the King for the conflicts again.
Prayuth said it was unlikely that Article 112 would be abused to persecute political opponents because lese-majeste cases always needed to be screened by two tiers of officers.
First, police had to consider whether to take action against alleged violators of the article or otherwise. Prayuth said that police mostly opted to take no action against those who violated the law without intention or who were lured into doing it.
Secondly, public prosecutors had to consider the investigative reports of the police.
Prayuth said although several sides said they were campaigning for the sake of monarchy, they were creating rifts instead.
The Army chief said the King did not get involved in the conflicts and always has mercy for all groups of people. The King himself has never asked the authorities to charge anyone and always pardoned convicts in the lese-majeste cases.
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