The Bangkok South Criminal Court ordered the acquittal today of former prime minister Chuan Leekpai on a defamation charge, filed against him by ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.
The court case dates back to October 28, 2012, when Chuan, during his lecture at the opening of the Democrat party’s political school at the Mada Plaza Hotel, blamed Thaksin for the flare-up of armed violence in the Deep South, culminating in the attack by insurgents on an military armoury on January 4, 2004, during which 400 assault rifles were stolen.
This has since been followed by a string of violent incidents, resulting in the deaths of more than 7,500 innocent civilians, government officials, members of the security forces and insurgents.
During the lecture, Chuan claimed that Thaksin had resorted to an armed crackdown on the insurgents and dismantled the Southern Border Provinces Administration Centre.
The court ruled, however, that Chuan, in his capacity as a politician, has the right to critique past events and found him not guilty as charged.
Before the reading of the verdict today, Chuan told the media that he had asked for permission from the court to submit a statement, in writing, to summarise the examination of witnesses in the past seven days.
According to Chuan, in the file of the witness examinations, the wording included “killings” and “killings to silence witnesses”.
According to a former deputy commander of the Fourth Army Region, who testified as his witness and was the only person who was present at a meeting on April 8, 2011, when then prime minister Thaksin gave a briefing of his policy on the unrest in the Deep South, following bomb attacks at the Hat Yai railway station on April 7 and 8.
Thaksin was reported to have said of the insurgents: “There were not more than 7 or 8 leaders. If ten of them were liquidated in a month, in two months, they would all be eliminated. I believe police would be able to do that.”
Chuan praised the deputy commander for his courage in testifying as his witness, because he was the only one at the meeting who objected to Thaksin’s policy and had recorded Thaksin’s policy statement.
He also said that, if the government then had listened to the deputy commander’s advice, much bloodshed in the Deep South would have been avoided.
This was a policy mistake and Thaksin did once admit to the mistake, claimed Chuan.
