Somchai doubts NACC’s motive in reviving crackdown lawsuit
Former prime minister Somchai Wongsawat has questioned the motives of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) in reviving a case earlier dropped by prosecutors about his government’s 2008 crackdown on People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protesters.
Referring to a decision by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office-Holders to accept the NACC’s lawsuit against him and three others, Mr Somchai insisted he had properly and honestly performed his duties regarding the dispersal of PAD demonstrators who tried to block him from delivering policies to parliament on Oct 7, 2008.
The three other defendants are Gen Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, the former deputy prime minister, Pol Gen Patcharawat Wongsuwon, the former police chief, and Pol Lt Gen Suchart Muankaew, the former metropolitan police chief. The first hearing has been set for May 11. The NACC accused Mr Somchai and Gen Chavalit of ordering the crackdown which led to two deaths and many casualties among anti-Thaksin protesters, and questioned the roles of the two senior officers who carried out the order.
The NACC in 2009 filed its lawsuit against Mr Somchai, Thaksin’s brother-in-law, with the Office of the Attorney General (OAG), but the OAG on Oct 9, 2012, ordered the case dismissed. The NACC had also filed a motion seeking his impeachment in the Senate in January 2010. That motion was voted down on March 9, 2010.
Despite the failure of its two previous attempts, the NACC is continuing to pursue Mr Somchai by filing a new lawsuit by itself with the Supreme Court, which has accepted it for further proceedings.
The former prime minister said that as a former judge, he was confident he would be given justice and was ready to prove himself in court. Mr Somchai said he only wanted to ask why the NACC had pursued the case, and whether the commission had adhered to the rule of law in performing its duties.
He also asked whether he is being treated differently from former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva who ordered the dispersal of the red-shirt protest in 2010. More than 90 pro-Thaksin protesters and security officers were killed during the months-long protest.