Court rejects Abhisit's suit against Jatuporn

The Criminal Court yesterday dismissed a libel case lodged by former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva against red-shirt leader and former MP Jatuporn Promphan, ruling that the verbal attack between the two was just politics and had no legal grounds for defamation.

Jatuporn was sued for a speech he made during a rally on May 10, 2009, accusing the then-premier of ordering soldiers to use lethal force in a crackdown against protesters that April, around the time Abhisit's car was attacked by red shirts.

In a democratic system, "such a verbal attack cannot be regarded as defamation in accordance with the Penal Code", the court said.

Abhisit's lawyer Paiboon Phonoi said his client was willing to appeal the case in the higher court. He has filed four defamation lawsuits against Jatuporn. In two earlier cases, the court sentenced Jatuporn to six months in jail and fined him Bt50,000 for each case. The terms were suspended. The court is considering one other defamation suit.

In a separate matter, Department of Special Investigation director-general Tarit Pengdith said that the DSI is not yet expected to file additional charges against Abhisit and another top Democrat, former deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban.

Tarit was speaking after a meeting with police and prosecutors.

"So far, investigators have taken only 16 statements from victims of the 2010 political mayhem," Tarit said. The DSI would have wait until after the New Year holidays for more victims to give their statements before deciding the next move.

Along with its investigation of Abhisit and Suthep's involvement in the civilian deaths in the government's crackdown on the 2010 protests, the DSI is also probing attempted murder charges for victims who were injured by gunshots from anti-riot forces.

Commenting on the killing of Army officer Romklao Thuwatham during the 2010 mayhem, Tarit said the DSI was in process of applying for warrants to arrest three suspects, known as "unidentifed forces", which means they were not soldiers in charge of crowd control nor those linked to the red shirts.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/12/28/court-rejects-abhisits-suit-against-jatuporn/