With the impeachment, Surapong, a Pheu Thai party executive, is banned from politics for five years, starting today.

The former foreign minister was accused of illegally returning two Thai passports to Thaksin, once a powerful leader of Pheu Thai and an ousted prime minister, who has been living in exile since his conviction  in a land case.

His two passports were revoked during the Abhisit government, but Surapong returned them to him, arguing Thaksin was not a threat to the country as claimed.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission found Surapong guilty of malfeasance and forwarded the case to the NLA. NACC representative Supa Piyachiti said returning the passports to the former PM breached the Foreign Ministry’s regulations prohibiting issuance to terrorism suspects.

Supa said Thaksin was on the list of those banned. She accused the ministry of not checking this fact, and instead expediting the issuance of the passports to Thaksin in just one day.

She said the NACC saw the former minister as being behind the move, making it impossible for concerned officials to object to such an illegal process.

In the hearing, Surapong refuted the allegations, claiming the issuance of the passports was a political decision, which would differ according to different ministers, and not a crrime from a legal perspective. He said in his view Thaksin was not a threat to the country.

He also said the ministry had tried to contact the Royal Thai Police as well as the court regarding the blacklist, but had received no response.

He insisted that the issuance followed the due process and it was possible to issue passports in one day as electronic data is easily accessible.