Watana, Arisman deny guilt
Key Pheu Thai member Watana Muangsook, and red-shirt co-leader Arisman Pongruangrong, have pleaded not guilty to charges related to alleged irregularities in a low-cost housing project.
The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions began a first hearing on the defendants’ statements in the case yesterday.
There are two separate groups of defendants in the case.
The first group comprises nine defendants, including Mr Watana. They face multiple charges including abusing their authority as state officials to force or persuade others to give them money in violation of Section 148 of the Criminal Code, and malfeasance or dereliction of duty under Section 157 of the same law.
Mr Arisman is in the other group of five defendants. They were accused of aiding and abetting Mr Watana and Mana Wongpiwat, a former board member of the National Housing Authority, who is among the first group of defendants.
Ten defendants, including Mr Watana and Mr Arisman, attended the court hearing and pleaded not guilty yesterday.
The other four defendants — two people and two companies — failed to show up, prompting the court to issue an arrest warrant.
The court said the two companies are legal entities and when they had been arraigned, they failed to send their representatives to court. Therefore, the arrest warrants have been issued for those who have the authority to act on behalf of the two companies, the court said.
Prosecutors asked the court to combine the trials of the two groups of defendants together as they were allegedly involved in the same case yesterday. The court agreed.
The court set the next hearings for Feb 12 and 15 to examine witnesses and evidence.
Mr Watana, a staunch critic of the regime, was accused of abusing power and demanding kickbacks related to the 2.5-billion-baht Eua Arthorn housing project when he served as social development and human security minister.
The inquiry was initiated by the nowdefunct Assets Scrutiny Committee which was formed after the 2006 coup to handle alleged corruption cases against the ousted Thaksin Shinawatra government.
The case was then dealt with by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) which forwarded its findings to the Office of the Attorney-General in Nov 2016 after deciding to implicate Mr Watana for alleged violations of the Criminal Code.
Mr Watana has denied the charges and insisted the project was transparent.