Vicha Mahakun, said the attempt to appeal the Supreme Court’s acquittal of former PM Somchai Wongsawat and three other top officials, including his deputy, would be the first test of whether the new charter’s spirit applied to the right of appeal in a criminal case.

The new charter allows concerned parties, both plaintiffs and defendants to appeal in a criminal case.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) is under pressure by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) to appeal against the case. The commission will have 30 days to look through the judicial decision, Vicha said. He suggested people to be calm and read thoroughly the court ruling before submitting an appeal.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders on Wednesday acquitted Somchai Wongsawat, his deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-police chief Pol-General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan police chief Pol-Lieutenant-General Suchart Muenkaew. The four defendants were found not guilty in regard to the police crackdown on yellow-shirt protesters in October 2008 that left two people dead and more than 400 injured.

The PAD, which led the protesters at that time, held a press briefing announcing their intent to petition to the NACC to appeal the verdict, claiming constitutional rights to do so.

NACC President Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit has already ordered his officers to read though the verdict, Vicha said.

The commission must thoroughly understand the verdict before it can decide whether to make an appeal, he said.

Vicha also asserted that the previous NACC, which worked on the case against Somchai’s bloc, had done good work on the case. “There can be different opinions among legal officers,” he said. “Justice can be viewed from various angles but must be finalized by the court’s verdict”.

The move to the new parliament building is expected to be made in 2020, he said.

The delay – the third time since the contract was signed in 2013 – has been caused by complications in the construction of the underground compound which requires excavation of two million cubic metres of soil, said project director Pheera Nakwimol.

There were two other complications, he said. One was the half-sphere auditorium which perches on metal structures without columns, Pheera said. These structures weigh 2,500 tonnes and must be assembled at the site because no logistic means are available, he said.

Another was the traditional Thai-styled finials. The engineer said the design would take three months longer than had been planned.

Kicking off in June 2013, the Bt12-billion contract won by Sino-Thai Engineering and Construction PLC, was expected to be complete in November 2015. However, it was postponed to November 2016 and to February 2018 before the latest deferral announced yesterday. As of August 2017, the construction has progressed to 38 per cent.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders acquitted Somchai Wongsawat, his deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-police chief Pol-General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan police chief Pol-Lieutenant-General Suchart Muenkaew.

The four defendants were found not guilty in regard to the police crackdown on yellow-shirt protesters in October 2008 that left two people killed and more than 400 injured.

Panthep Puapongpan, one of the PAD’s key figures, said the group respected the court ruling, but it disagreed with it. The PAD considers that some of the legal facts addressed in the court decision may not be correct, he said.

Panthep noted that the administrative court had ruled shortly after the crackdown that the PAD-led protest was peaceful.

The group would petition the NACC, which has authority to appeal the case, to make an appeal. The plan to submit the petition this Monday, Panthep said.

Assoc Prof Bancha Chalapirom issued a statement following reports that a member of the Chulalongkorn Student Council was assaulted by a lecturer after he allegedly showed disrespect to the tradition by abruptly walking out along with CU Student Council President Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal.

Pictures were widely shared on Facebook showing a lecturer grabbing a student and dragging him out while Netiwit and other CU Student Council members were leaving the ceremony.

Bancha said the incident happened because a group of students did not honour an agreement with the university that those who disagree with the tradition would pay respect to the monument by simply standing and bowing their heads.

Bancha said the student group tried to make a scene for the media to take pictures. This prompted the lecturer to become angry and lose his temper.

The lecturer later suffered form hyperventilation and was admitted to the Chulalongkorn Hosptial, Bancha added.

At the Thursday night ceremony, freshmen sat on the ground in front of the monument and raised their hands in an ancient tradition to pay respect to the King.

Netiwit and other members of the student council were invited to take part in the ceremony. Netiwit has repeatedly expressed his opposition to the tradition of paying respect to the monument with student kowtowing, saying King Rama V himself abolished the tradition.

Bancha said in the statement that the university recognised the different opinions of some students so they were allowed to stand in a separate group and were allowed to carry out their own ceremony later.

In a Facebook response, however, Netiwit said the vice rector did not tell the whole truth.

Netiwit said Bancha had agreed with the student council that if it rained, the ceremony would be cancelled to protect the students and the students would be allowed to stand up and simply bow to the monument.

Netiwit said it rained hard but the ceremony was not cancelled and some of them were given plastic raincoats instead.

He said his group decided to walk out after seeing that the lecturers failed to honour the agreement but one of his friends was attacked by the lecturer.

Leaders of the yellow shirts’ now defunct People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) will meet today to discuss further moves. They will announce their position after the meeting.

An invitation was extended through Facebook to all leaders of the movement and people concerned to meet on Friday at 9am at Ban Phra Arthit. The property belongs to the group’s leader, Sondhi Limthongkul, who is serving a 20-year jail term for forgery relating to a bank loan deal.

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders acquitted former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, his deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-police chief Pol General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan Police chief Pol Lt-General Suchart Muenkaew.

The four defendants were found not guilty in regard to the police crackdown on yellow-shirt protesters in October 2008 that left two people killed and more than 400 others injured.

Upon learning of the acquittal, the PAD called on the NACC to appeal the court ruling, but the agency’s president, Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit, responded that commissioners would need to carefully study the verdict and relevant legal points before deciding on an appeal.

An NACC source said yesterday that this current set of commissioners did not deal with the case from the beginning so they need to study it in detail before reaching a conclusion whether to appeal. The source expected a decision to be made before the 30-day deadline for appealing the verdict.

The case was brought to the Supreme Court by the NACC in 2015 by the previous set of commissioners, most of whom have since been replaced.

Yellow shirts must follow the law, says Prawit

Watcharapol is one of the new commissioners. He had served as spokesman for the Royal Thai Police when Patcharawat, one of the defendants in the case, was the national police chief. After his retirement from the police force, Watcharapol was appointed secretary to Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, who is Patcharawat’s elder brother, and also a member of the National Legislative Assembly.

Later, Watcharapol, having resigned from all his other positions, applied to become an NACC member when applications were opened. He succeeded in becoming a new NACC commissioner. Shortly after the new commissioners assumed office, the NACC set up a working group to consider whether to withdraw the case from the court, after the defendants petitioned for fair treatment. A decision to withdraw was delayed repeatedly.

However, after warnings of possible legal repercussions and opposition from many people, the NACC finally resolved not to withdraw the case. With the ball back in the NACC’s court, some observers said it was unlikely the agency would appeal, judging from the way it dealt with the idea of withdrawing the case previously.

Deputy PM Prawit Wongsuwan yesterday said the PAD must follow the law if it wanted to hold a public gathering in reaction to the court ruling on the case.

Prawit said there is a public gathering act in place and any public gatherings must follow this law. He said he did not believe they would create the disorder experienced in the past, and that security officers would be deployed to ensure peaceful gatherings.

It will now be forwarded to the prime minister, a step close to royal endorsement and law promulgation.

Under the bill, the party’s internal election or the primary voting remains in the legislation. But from now on it will carry some penalties for certain breaches.

There has been controversy and concern that it would cause financial and logistic burdens on some small political parties as well as time constraints for preparations ahead of the coming election. The Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), which drafted the bill, shared the same concern. However, it had been decided that the revision should be based on the bill’s constitutionality, not whether the political parties could adapt to the change.

The CDC objected, saying the primary voting system could violate the charter’s spirit to combat corruption as no measures were introduced to prevent possible fraud within the parties. The joint committee, in response, laid out strict punishments of up to a Bt200,000 fine, 10-years imprisonment, as well as a lifelong election ban against party members found guilty of corruption in the primary voting. No party dissolution was addressed as part of the penalties.

Another change made in line with the CDC’s proposal regarded the political rights of a party leader. The joint committee agreed to allow the leader to run in the constituency. Previously, the leader could only be the first party-list candidate.

However, despite the CDC’s objections, the requirement of at least 50 members as a pre-condition for the primary voting to be held, and a stipulation allowing parties that have one provincial branch to field candidates in all constituencies was retained in the passed bill.

After the revision, NLA members yesterday voted 205-0 in favour, with two abstentions. One member did not cast a vote. It will now be forwarded to the prime minister.

The political parties organic bill is one of the 10 to be legislated to accompany the Constitution which came into effect in April.

Abhisit Vejjajiva, leader of the Democrat Party, said yesterday it was right to stipulate the punishments if the controversial primary voting system was to be adopted.

However, he questioned how much the system would improve public participation, given it required only 50 members to join the voting process. The veteran politician did not think many people would be willing to travel to the party’s poll booth, with only one in each province.

He is concerned that there has been insufficient inclusiveness in the reform process, dooming it to failure.

The remark came after the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA) had dissolved on Monday, following the enactment of the reform law which would set up another 11 panels to take on the reform issue.

Politicians had been urged to nominate candidates to sit on the panels.

The democrat leader, however, expressed that the more important thing was to find ways to allow elaborate public participation.

“I am concerned more about how or how much people will be able to participate in this. Politicians already have the chance to work in the executive or legislative branch in the future anyway,” Abhisit said.

The former PM pointed out it would be difficult for genuine reform to come to fruition if the people did not feel it was theirs.

Also, some points in the reform would take a long time to materialise, he added.

Some stakeholders afraid of losing their power or influence would likely try to get in the way, Abhisit explained. It would need mutual agreement of people in society to overcome such obstacles and drive reform, he said.

The Democrat leader went on to say that the 20-year national strategy, which was in the same legislative package with reform, must also be in line with the people’s desires.

Personally, Abhisit said, he didn’t think a scheme of such long duration fits attitudes of our current generation of citizens. He would like participation to be open to everyone to avoid future problems.

Asked to reflect on the work of the defunct NRSA, the politician said that he wished it had not work on each reform issue individually.

Rather, they should have come up with a grand scheme, with a clear and solid principle and foundation, he said. For example, the main principle could have been to decrease state power and empower the people. By starting from stated principles, the necessary reform policies would have been clearer, he added.

In addition, Abhisit noted that he has always stressed that the NRSA did not have authority other than to propose suggestions to the Cabinet and the National Legislative Assembly, which have the power to decide whether to take or drop any plan.

Prawit said there is a public gathering act in place and any public gatherings must follow this law. He said he did not believe they would create disorder like in the past, and that security officers would be deployed to ensure peaceful gatherings.

The PAD said on Thursday that it would meet on Friday to address the issue and chalk out its future moves.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Officer Holders on Wednesday acquitted four defendants accused of dereliction of duty and malfeasance by the NACC in 2015 over the police suppression of the PAD-led protest in front of Parliament on October 7.

Former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, his then-deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-police chief Pol General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan Police chief Pol Lt-General Suchart Muenkaew were found not guilty.

The court ruled that the defendants did not intend to inflict casualties in a legitimate operation that aimed to ensure that the Cabinet could fulfil its constitutional duty as well as protect individuals and state property.

Somchai is the brother-in-law of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, while Patcharawat is the younger brother of Deputy PM Prawit.

Prawit said he had not yet talked to his brother. He also rejected the notion that Pathcharawat’s acquittal was linked to their blood ties.

In this case, he said, Patcharawat was merely the police chief, whereas there was a prime minister and a deputy prime minister above him.

“I did nothing for him. I only take care of his personal matters. I have not done anything yet, not even talked to him,” said Prawit, rejecting the notion that he had something to do with this case.

Former PAD coordinator Suriyasai Katasila said that Wednesday’s ruling had hurt the feelings of yellow shirts as a many of their loved ones had faced various degrees of losses. Some had become handicapped while others had lost their lives hence someone must be held responsible, he added. The PAD would meet to address the issue and determine future moves before petitioning the NACC to appeal the verdict.

Initially, Suriyasai outlined three points of contention that he said had raised doubts in the members of the public.

He disputed arguments that the dispersal of the protesters had been conducted in line with international practices, that the demonstration was not peaceful or unarmed, and that the defendants had no intention of causing casualties.

There had been controversy over some clauses regarding conducting trials in absentia and suspension of statutes of limitations when suspects were on the run.

The NLA had passed the organic law in mid July, but the Constitution required that the bill be reviewed by the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC) and other agencies to ensure it did not violate the charter.

The bill is one of 10 organic laws that need to be to be legislated to accompany the new Constitution promulgated in April.

Passage of the bill has been highly anticipated, as a number of key political office holders are going to trial in the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. The court would need to follow the new procedures as stipulated in the bill

Panthep Puapongpan, former spokesman of now defunct People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD), used Facebook on Wednesday to invite all former leaders of the movement and people concerned to meet on Friday at 9am at Ban Phra Arthit.

They will announce their position after the meeting.

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders on Wednesday ruled that four defendants, former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat, his then-deputy Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, then-police chief Pol General Patcharawat Wongsuwan, and then-Metropolitan Police chief Pol Lt-General Suchart Muenkaew, were not guilty in regard to the deadly police crackdown on yellow-shirt protesters in October 2008.

The PAD yesterday called on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to appeal the court verdict but the NACC, which brought the case to the Supreme Court, said commissioners would need to carefully study the verdict before deciding on an appeal.

Last week, the Court of Appeal sentenced six former PAD leaders to eight months in prison, reducing the two-year jail terms imposed by the primary court, for their seizure of Government House in an attempt to oust then-prime minister Samak Sundaravej in 2008.

The six former leaders are retired general Chamlong Srimuang, Somsak Kosaisuk, Pipob Thongchai, Suriyasai Katasila, Somkiat Pongpaiboon and media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, who is serving a jail term in a separate case involving stock market violations.