Activist petitions Justice Minister on proposed pardon decree

BANGKOK, Nov 22 - Thailand's Network of Citizen Volunteers Protecting the Land coordinator on Tuesday submitted a letter signed by more than 30,000 petitioners to Justice Minister Pol Gen Pracha Promnog opposing the issuance of a royal pardon decree which benefits any particular person.

Network coordinator Dr Tul Sitthisomwong, commonly known as the leader of the multi-coloured group, said he collected 32,948 signatures of persons disagreeing with the revision of the decree on royal pardons and he submitted the petition to Gen Pracha.

The justice minister is responsible for proposing royal pardons for convicts on the occasion of His Majesty the King's 84th birthday on Dec 5 this year.

Dr Tul urged Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to inform the public about the draft herself, and to compare it with previous such drafts endorsed in 1997 and 2010, to assure the public that no change has been made to specifically help her brother, fugitive ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Gen Pracha received the complaint letter from the network himself and reaffirmed to the movement that no significant change of the decree has been made in the draft in which the prime minister will today present to His Majesty King Bhumibol for consideration.

The justice minister said the current draft combined the essence of the decree endorsed in 2010 by the previous Democrat-led government and in 1997 together without deleting the conditions barring those convicted of drug and corruption charges from applying for a royal pardon.

Gen Pracha reaffirmed Mr Thaksin is not also on the list of convicts eligible to be granted royal pardon this year and said that every process has complied with the law.

Mr Thaksin on Sunday released a letter from Dubai where he mainly stays in self-imposed exile saying he could not accept any preferential treatment for royal pardon.

The activist's move came after last week's cabinet meeting, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm ! Yoobamru ng, secretly revised the draft on the annual royal pardon amid fears among the public that this could benefit the ousted ex-premier.

The Network of Citizen Volunteers Protecting the Land on Monday submitted a letter to the Privy Council opposing the issuance of the controversial amnesty decree and called on the privy councillors to consider the case carefully.

The yellow-shirted People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) also threatened to protest the government move but later put it off after the government backed down on the case.

Mr Thaksin, ousted in a coup in 2006, was sentenced in absentia in 2008 to two years imprisonment for abuse of power by helping his then wife acquire a parcel of prime Bangkok commercial land at a price far below its market value. (MCOT online news)


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