Attorney-General to revive old Thaksin cases under new legislation
The Office of the Attorney-General plans to appoint a working group to revive criminal cases involving former premier Thaksin Shinawatra as a key suspect, even though the cases were previously suspended due to the courts’ inability to conduct trials in absentia.
Kosolwat Indaruchanyong, deputy spokesman of the agency, said Kemchai Chutiwong, the new attorney-general, would officially deliver a policy statement before agency officials on October 17, after which the director-general in charge of special cases would proceed to revive cases involving the former premier.
The criminal cases can now be tried in absentia after new legislation was recently enacted. Previously, criminal proceedings could not go ahead unless suspects were physically present at those proceeding.
Kosolwat said public prosecutors would follow the new law on trials in absentia regarding cases against Thaksin and other political office holders.
Cases involving Thaksin as a key suspect include those concerned with his alleged abuse of power while in office in connection with state-owned Krungthai Bank’s fraudulent multi-billion-baht loans.
He said the agency’s working group would examine facts and details of the cases before making further decision whether to forward the cases to the courts for trials in absentia.