Decision delayed on libel charge against Dhammakaya spokesman
A public prosecutor has postponed to July 31 a decision on whether to indict Ong-art Dhammanitta, a spokesman for Dhammakaya Temple disciples, for alleged libel.
Withoon Chalaiyonnawin, a former deputy director-general of the Forestry Department, has accused Ong-art of libelling him.
Ong-art and his lawyer met the prosecutor in Pathum Thani’s Thanyaburi district on Wednesday morning in response to a summons to hear the indictment decision, but were told the decision had been delayed.
Withoon, who serves at court hearings as an expert witness on aerial photography, had filed the libel complaint with police in Pathum Thani’s Klong Luang, accusing Ong-art of tarnishing his reputation with comments on his role as a witness in a forest-encroachment case against Phra Dhammachayo, the temple’s fugitive former abbot.
RELATED