Reprieve plan for political offenders
NLA mulls new law to ease reconciliation
The National Legislative Assembly (NLA) plans to propose a draft law to the government offering a penalty reprieve for those who committed politically-motivated criminal offences as part of the unitybuilding process.
NLA vice-president Pirasak Porchit said the 33-section bill is being reviewed by the assembly and will be forwarded to the Committee for National Administration under the Framework of National Reform, Strategy and Reconciliation for consideration.
The draft, prepared by the NLA’s committee on politics headed by Klanarong Chanthik, is hoped to be considered along with other proposals to help foster national unity and heal political divisiveness, he said.
The draft l aw involves the justice administration process for politically motivated cases between 2005 and May 22, 2014 when the coup was staged to end the stalemate.
It would also have retrospective effect if those cases meet the criteria specified in the law.
It mainly seeks to grant courts the power to consider lower or suspended sentences for offenders whose acts are found to be politically motivated.
The court can also allow a sentence with a lower penalty than the minimum penalty stipulated in the Criminal Code.
The courts are also empowered to lay down conditions, in addition to those allowed by the criminal law, for the offenders to follow during their probation period.
Under the proposed law, an 11-member committee will be set up to consider which cases are politically motivated.
It is also collecting facts related to political conflicts from 2005 to October 2014 that involve human rights violations.
The committee is required to set criteria to distinguish politically motivated cases from others with regard to the severity of the offence and impact on the national interest.
This must be completed within 30 days of the committee being established.
It is required to hold public hearings among the victims, the accused, state officials and others. It is barred from disclosing the identities of people involved unless three-fourths of the panel votes to do so.
The committee is also asked to set the criteria for the administration of justice, compensation and rehabilitation, and recommendations to the cabinet, parliament, courts, the prosecution, and agencies concerned.
It is empowered to issue summons for government officials and employees or individuals to give statements. Those who fail to comply face a three-month jail term or a 5,000-baht fine.
It has the authority to call for investigative reports, findings, documents or evidence for use in its consideration.
Those who fail to comply are subject to two years in prison and/or a fine of 40,000 baht.
To qualify as a committee member, candidates are required to have no political affiliation for at least three years prior to their appointment. They must never have been handed a jail sentence or hit with a political ban.
The NLA’s latest bill only one of several aimed at promoting national unity. One bill involves the suspension of court proceedings and convictions against all political offenders during the political unrest. It was unveiled last year by Seree Suwanphanont, chairman of the committee under the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA).
Under the NRSA’s proposed law, prosecutions and court cases stemming from past political unrest will be suspended despite some cases having gone through court proceedings.
Those who will benefit from the proposed law include protesters who laid siege to state offices, blocked roads and stormed airports during the political unrest.
Mr Pirasak also said the government committee on national reconciliation which will kick off its opinion-gathering process this Tuesday will meet representatives from all sectors, not just politicians.