Thanathorn prosecution D-Day soon
Prosecutors will decide next month whether or not to indict Progressive Movement co-founder Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit for breaking the law relating to the election of MPs.
Prayuth Petchkhun, deputy spokesman of the Office of Attorney-General, said Mr Thanathorn had denied the charge and prosecutors would decide whether to pursue the matter on Feb 19.
A source at the OAG said police at Bangkok’s Thung Song Hong station submitted their report to prosecutors on Tuesday and recommended that Mr Thanathorn be charged with wrongfully registering as a candidate knowing he was not qualified under Section 151 of the 2018 MP Election Act.
Mr Thanathorn had also showed up to meet prosecutors, said the source.
The matter was raised by the Election Commission last year after the Constitutional Court ruled on Nov 20, 2019 to disqualify Mr Thanathorn, leader of the now-defunct Future Forward Party, from parliament.
That ruling found that at the time he registered his candidacy Mr Thanathorn still held shares in V-Luck Media and was therefore in violation of the constitution, which prohibits owners and shareholders of media or publishing firms from applying to become MPs.
Mr Thanathorn topped the list of party-list candidates submitted to the EC by the Future Forward Party, which was dissolved by the Constitutional Court in February last year, over a 191.2-million-baht loan the party accepted from Mr Thanathorn, then its leader, in breach of the political parties law.
The penalties for the offence are a jail term from one to 10 years, a fine from 20,000 to 200,000 baht and a ban from politics for 20 years.
Mr Thanathorn reported to police over the charge in November last year and denied the charge, insisting that he had proof he had sold his media shares.