5 hours ago
5
BREAKINGBREAKING,
Retired person and billionaire businessman was accused of violating Thailand’s strict laws connected insults to Thai royalty.
Published On 22 Aug 2025
A tribunal successful Thailand has dismissed a high-profile lawsuit against the country’s erstwhile Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra implicit allegations helium violated the country’s strict laws connected royal insults, the billionaire and his lawyer said.
“The lawsuit was dismissed,” Thaksin told reporters with a grin arsenic helium near the tribunal location pursuing the verdict connected Friday.
The transgression tribunal successful Bangkok has yet to publically denote Friday’s decision.
His lawyer earlier confirmed the determination to Reuters but gave nary crushed for the dismissal.
The lawsuit was brought by the royalist subject alleging Thaksin, 76, had violated Thailand’s strict lese-majeste instrumentality during a 2015 interrogation with overseas media portion successful self-imposed exile.
Thaksin has denied wrongdoing and has repeatedly pledged allegiance to the king, who is enshrined successful the Thai constitution arsenic being successful a presumption of “revered worship”, with the palace seen supporters arsenic sacrosanct.
On Friday, helium appeared successful tribunal wearing a yellowish necktie, the colour associated with Thailand’s monarchy.
Thaksin’s lawsuit was the highest-profile among much than 280 prosecutions successful caller years nether the arguable law, which activists accidental has been abused by conservatives to soundlessness dissent and sideline governmental rivals. Royalists accidental the instrumentality is indispensable to support the crown.
Thaksin remains a large unit successful Thai authorities contempt being retired and having antecedently spent 15 years successful self-imposed exile earlier his instrumentality to the state successful 2023.
Although helium has nary authoritative relation successful government, Thaksin remains politically progressive and is wide seen arsenic the powerfulness down the ruling Pheu Thai enactment led by daughter Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who is nether suspension arsenic the country’s premier minister, and who is facing her ain governmental troubles.
Paetongtarn, 39, faces the imaginable of dismissal by the Constitutional Court for an alleged violation of ethics over a leaked telephone conversation with Cambodia’s erstwhile person Hun Sen, successful what she said was an effort to defuse a diplomatic crisis that aboriginal spiraled into five days of equipped conflict.
Thaksin also faces different cardinal ineligible trial successful September, wherever the Supreme Court volition determine whether his six-month stint successful infirmary detention anterior to his release connected parole in 2024 should number arsenic clip served successful a jailhouse word for maltreatment of powerfulness and conflicts of interest. He could perchance beryllium made to service the clip successful prison.
Source:
Al Jazeera and quality agencies
English (US) ·