Thaksin Shinawatra, 76, was acquitted of a royal defamation (lese-majeste) charge that could have carried three to 15 years in prison. The Bangkok Criminal Court found witnesses and evidence too weak to support conviction and said the prosecution's account of a 2015 interview lacked context and did not clearly refer to then-King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The court noted potential political bias among witnesses who had participated in protests against Thaksin. The charge stemmed from remarks to journalists in South Korea in 2015 and was originally filed in 2016 but delayed while Thaksin was in exile. Thaksin smiled and responded "Dismissal."
The law on defaming the monarchy, an offense known as lese majeste, is punishable by three to 15 years in prison. It is among the harshest such laws globally and increasingly has been used in Thailand to punish government critics. The legal aid group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights has said that since early 2020, more than 270 people many of them student activists have been charged with violating the law.
The court's news release said it had found the witnesses and evidence were too weak to support conviction. Thaksin was originally charged in 2016 over remarks he made a year earlier to journalists in South Korea. The case was not pursued at that time because he was in exile and the necessary legal procedures could not be completed.
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