Thaksin contracts Covid, requests lese majeste postponement

Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has appealed to the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) on Tuesday to postpone the session to hear its decision on lese majeste charges, previously scheduled for today (May 29), as he is infected with the new coronavirus or Covid-19.

A news source said the OAG accepted the appeal from Thaksin’s attorney Winyat Chatmontri at 6pm on Tuesday but has yet to officially allow the postponement of the session.

Lese majeste and computer-crime charges were filed against Thaksin concerning comments he made in an interview with South Korean media in 2015 while living in exile abroad after being ousted by a military coup in 2006.

In the interview with Chosun Ilbo, Thaksin alleged that the Privy Council had backed the May 22, 2014 coup which ousted his sister Yingluck Shinawatra’s government.

Thaksin, who was sentenced in absentia to eight years in prison for several corruption cases, returned to Thailand in 2023 after 15 years of self-imposed exile.

His term was reduced by clemency by His Majesty the King to one year and the Corrections Department said Thaksin is qualified to be released from jail to serve half of his term at home because of his old age and poor health.

During an interview with Thai media on May 25, Thaksin said he intended to attend the OAG hearing scheduled on May 29, adding that nothing has changed in his personal schedule.

On April 10, Attorney-General Amnat Chetcharoenrak postponed the decision to indict the former premier until Wednesday, noting that the OAG required an additional interrogation report from the police.