Veera threatens to sue NACC if it drops case on 2008 ‘yellow shirt’ crackdown
ANTI-CORRUPTION activist Veera Somkwamkid has said that he will file a lawsuit against the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) for dereliction of duty if it drops the case against those who were allegedly behind the violent crackdown on “yellow-shi
“I will not let this happen because it is illegal. I have warned the NACC that I will take drastic measures. I have completed writing the lawsuit,’’ he said.
Those involved in the case include former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, former National Police chief Pol General Patcharawat Wongsuwan and ex-Bangkok Police chief Pol Lt-General Suchart Muankaew.
The NACC had earlier filed a suit against them at the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division of Political Office Holders for alleged malfeasance over the crackdown on the yellow-shirt People’s Alliance for Democracy. The case is under trial.
“If I file the suit against the NACC, not only the NACC will be in jeopardy, but the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO] who is behind the move [to drop the case] will also be in the soup. Everybody knows that Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan is backing Pol General Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit for the position of NACC chairman so he can help his brother Patcharawat fight this case. If the NACC drops the case, the society will no longer trust the NCPO, which brought down the last government, because it will show them as colluding,” he said.
“If the case is dropped, the justice system will be destroyed. The law will no longer be sacred,’’ he said.
The NACC is considering withdrawing the case after the defendants filed a petition saying they had new evidence and were asking the anti-graft agency to drop the case.
The NACC met before the Songkran holiday and voted six to one ruling that the agency has the legal right to withdraw the case.
The agency assigned NACC secretary-general Sansern Polajiak to compare the case with the crackdown on the red-shirt movement in 2010. In that case, the NACC dropped a lawsuit against ex-PM Abhisit Vejjajiva, his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban and ex-Army chief General Anupong Paochinda.
Veera said the NACC could not compare the two cases because different laws were in effect when the incidents took place. “In 2010, there were laws [on dispersing rallies], but in 2008 no such laws were in place,” he said.
RELATED