Lese-majeste charges filed against Thanathorn
-
phuketrichard
- Expatriate
- Posts: 16879
- Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
- Reputation: 5782
- Location: Atlantis
Re: Lese-majeste charges filed against Thanathorn
he should know better, one does not question why....
https://www.khaosodenglish.com/politics ... -112-case/BANGKOK — Opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said on Thursday the public has every right to question the government’s efforts to secure a coronavirus vaccine through a company owned by the palace.
The former Future Forward Party leader was speaking at a press conference in response to the government’s attempt to prosecute him with the royal defamation law, or lese majeste, for raising his concerns over the transparency of the vaccine deal. A woman sentenced to a record 43-year jail term for lese majeste was also denied bail by the court on Thursday.
he questioned why Siam Bioscience was granted a monopoly in the production of COVID-19 vaccine in Thailand.
The company is wholly owned by the Crown Property Bureau, who in turn answers directly to King Vajiralongkorn, without any civilian oversight.
“Is it right or not, that by raising issues with the government like this, I am being accused of these crimes? Will other people critiquing the government also be accused in the same way?” Thanathorn said today. “Is criticizing the government tantamount to being an enemy of the monarchy?”
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
-
Phnom Poon
- Expatriate
- Posts: 1795
- Joined: Wed Jan 16, 2019 5:44 pm
- Reputation: 892
Re: Lese-majeste charges filed against Thanathorn
the point was not about lese-majesteJohn Bingham wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 10:47 pmHE more likely copied the Thai Lese-majeste laws which have been in place for decades.phuketrichard wrote: ↑Wed Jan 20, 2021 5:30 pm taking a play out of HE's play book concerning eliminating ur opponents.
but about the strategy of wining elections by ensuring you're the only viable, or simply, the only, choice
.
monstra mihi bona!
Re: Lese-majeste charges filed against Thanathorn
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Turbul ... 6&si=44594
Thailand targets Thanathorn for questioning king's vaccine maker
Former opposition leader latest to be slapped with lese majeste charges
Opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said Thursday the lese majeste case against him was "politically motivated" and insisted on his innocence in a news conference. © Reuters
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writerJanuary 21, 2021 19:45 JST
BANGKOK -- Former Thai opposition leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has become the most recent target to face the kingdom's draconian lese-majeste law for disputing the government's COVID-19 vaccine strategy of solely relying on domestic production by a biopharmaceutical company ultimately owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Thanathorn said the case against him was "politically motivated" and insisted on his innocence in a news conference on Thursday. Thai people deserve to know the truth of what is going on with their vaccines, he said.
The Digital Economy and Society Ministry filed the royal defamation charge as well as a violation of the country's Computer Crime Act against Thanathorn to the technology crime suppression division of the police on Wednesday.
The move came only two days after the 42-year-old billionaire ran a live online broadcast that questioned the role of Siam Bioscience in producing coronavirus vaccines in Thailand. Thanathorn made 11 critical remarks about the monarchy.
As of April 13, 2020, all but two of the company's total of 48 million issued shares belonged to the king. The two were owned by an air chief marshal and a police colonel, respectively. The Crowne Property Bureau, which manages King Vajiralongkorn's assets, used to hold most of Siam Bioscience's shares, but they were transferred to the king's direct possession sometime between April 20, 2018 and April 29, 2019, according to documents obtained by Nikkei Asia.
The government has accelerated the use of lese majeste since November, when Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government "will intensify its actions and use all laws, all articles, against protesters who broke the law." At least 54 activists including minors have faced the charge in recent months, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. Some protest leaders are facing multiple lese-majeste charges.
Prayuth's cabinet approved plans to purchase a total of 63 million doses of COVID vaccines. Of those, 26 million shots have been assigned exclusively to Siam Bioscience to be produced domestically using a recipe from AstraZeneca shared through a technology transfer deal.
In the broadcast, Thanathorn did not explicitly criticize the awarding of the deal to the company. Instead, he questioned Siam Bioscience's experience in vaccine-making, and said the government was relying too much on a company with limited credentials in the area.
"It's too late before they realized that most of the vaccines have been bought out," the politician said in the broadcast. "I have to ask whether the government is prepared to handle the risk of putting all hopes on a single company."
Prayuth slammed Thanathorn's claim on Tuesday. "It's all distorted and not factual at all," he said. "I will order prosecution for anything false that gets published, whether in [traditional] media or social media."
According to a government database, Siam Bioscience registered a total revenue of 157 million baht ($5.3 million) for 2019. Its total assets were recorded at 4.5 billion baht.
President of AstraZeneca in Thailand James Teague attends an agreement signing ceremony for Thailand to provide potential COVID-19 vaccine at Government House in Bangkok, November 27, 2020. © Reuters
The charges did not discourage Thanathorn from voicing his doubts. "Why is the government doing so much defending in the name of a private company? Is it actually admitting that a special privilege has been granted to this private company?" he posted on Facebook after the Digital Economy and Society Ministry filed the complaint.
This is not the first legal challenge faced by Thanathorn. He formed his own pro-democracy Future Forward Party in 2018. In general elections in the following year, the party won 81 out of 500 lower house seats in Thailand. Its progressive campaign to cut the military budget and pursue bold reforms created many enemies, especially among the establishment.
In November 2019, Thanathorn was stripped of his status as a parliamentary member by the Constitutional Court, as he failed to entirely relinquish his media shareholding before running for office. The court later ordered his party to disband as it was accused of receiving illegal funding from the leader. Pro-democracy activists took these developments as legal harassments, and took to the streets to protest the overreach of the government.
The lese majeste law, or Article 112 of the criminal code, is the most draconian of its kind in the world. Defendants face up to 15 years in jail per offense, with consecutive terms possible. Anyone can make a complaint of lese majeste to the police.
These recent charges come at a relatively quiet time for Thailand after a year of much unrest. Since mid-December, large protest groups have refrained from holding mass rallies due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in the kingdom.
But angered by the government's recent actions, a small group rallied at Victory Monument in central Bangkok on Saturday, asking onlookers to write their own protest messages on a 112 m blank banner.
The demonstration soon met a violent crackdown by the police acting on the government's ban on political gatherings brought in on Dec. 26. Before the banner was confiscated, one of the supporters wrote "the COVID-19 is just an excuse," implying that the government was using the pandemic to impose restrictions in Bangkok to quell the pro-democracy movement rather than to stop the spread of the virus.
"Slitting the chicken's neck to frighten the monkeys" was how one royal observer described recent developments. On Tuesday, a Thai woman was sentenced to a jail term of 43 years and six months for lese majeste charges over her actions in 2015, luridly displaying what the law is capable of.
Royalists have been encouraged by King Vajiralongkorn's unusual long stay on home soil to go on the offensive. Since his accession to the throne in 2016, the king had spent most of his time in Germany. But over the past few months, he has traveled around Thailand, occasionally mingling with his supporters.
On Wednesday, prominent royalist Warong Dechgitvigrom announced the formation of a pro-monarchy political party called Thai Pakdee. "Today, we stand up and fight for the entire nation's revered and beloved institution," he said, referring to the monarchy.
Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a pro-democracy politician and co-founder of the dissolved Future Forwad, quickly responded to Warong's move on Twitter. "The formation of a party that advocates the protection of the monarchy, whether by good intention or in the name of destroying others, only brings the monarchy into the political sphere," he tweeted.
Thailand targets Thanathorn for questioning king's vaccine maker
Former opposition leader latest to be slapped with lese majeste charges
Opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said Thursday the lese majeste case against him was "politically motivated" and insisted on his innocence in a news conference. © Reuters
MASAYUKI YUDA, Nikkei staff writerJanuary 21, 2021 19:45 JST
BANGKOK -- Former Thai opposition leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit has become the most recent target to face the kingdom's draconian lese-majeste law for disputing the government's COVID-19 vaccine strategy of solely relying on domestic production by a biopharmaceutical company ultimately owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Thanathorn said the case against him was "politically motivated" and insisted on his innocence in a news conference on Thursday. Thai people deserve to know the truth of what is going on with their vaccines, he said.
The Digital Economy and Society Ministry filed the royal defamation charge as well as a violation of the country's Computer Crime Act against Thanathorn to the technology crime suppression division of the police on Wednesday.
The move came only two days after the 42-year-old billionaire ran a live online broadcast that questioned the role of Siam Bioscience in producing coronavirus vaccines in Thailand. Thanathorn made 11 critical remarks about the monarchy.
As of April 13, 2020, all but two of the company's total of 48 million issued shares belonged to the king. The two were owned by an air chief marshal and a police colonel, respectively. The Crowne Property Bureau, which manages King Vajiralongkorn's assets, used to hold most of Siam Bioscience's shares, but they were transferred to the king's direct possession sometime between April 20, 2018 and April 29, 2019, according to documents obtained by Nikkei Asia.
The government has accelerated the use of lese majeste since November, when Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha said the government "will intensify its actions and use all laws, all articles, against protesters who broke the law." At least 54 activists including minors have faced the charge in recent months, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. Some protest leaders are facing multiple lese-majeste charges.
Prayuth's cabinet approved plans to purchase a total of 63 million doses of COVID vaccines. Of those, 26 million shots have been assigned exclusively to Siam Bioscience to be produced domestically using a recipe from AstraZeneca shared through a technology transfer deal.
In the broadcast, Thanathorn did not explicitly criticize the awarding of the deal to the company. Instead, he questioned Siam Bioscience's experience in vaccine-making, and said the government was relying too much on a company with limited credentials in the area.
"It's too late before they realized that most of the vaccines have been bought out," the politician said in the broadcast. "I have to ask whether the government is prepared to handle the risk of putting all hopes on a single company."
Prayuth slammed Thanathorn's claim on Tuesday. "It's all distorted and not factual at all," he said. "I will order prosecution for anything false that gets published, whether in [traditional] media or social media."
According to a government database, Siam Bioscience registered a total revenue of 157 million baht ($5.3 million) for 2019. Its total assets were recorded at 4.5 billion baht.
President of AstraZeneca in Thailand James Teague attends an agreement signing ceremony for Thailand to provide potential COVID-19 vaccine at Government House in Bangkok, November 27, 2020. © Reuters
The charges did not discourage Thanathorn from voicing his doubts. "Why is the government doing so much defending in the name of a private company? Is it actually admitting that a special privilege has been granted to this private company?" he posted on Facebook after the Digital Economy and Society Ministry filed the complaint.
This is not the first legal challenge faced by Thanathorn. He formed his own pro-democracy Future Forward Party in 2018. In general elections in the following year, the party won 81 out of 500 lower house seats in Thailand. Its progressive campaign to cut the military budget and pursue bold reforms created many enemies, especially among the establishment.
In November 2019, Thanathorn was stripped of his status as a parliamentary member by the Constitutional Court, as he failed to entirely relinquish his media shareholding before running for office. The court later ordered his party to disband as it was accused of receiving illegal funding from the leader. Pro-democracy activists took these developments as legal harassments, and took to the streets to protest the overreach of the government.
The lese majeste law, or Article 112 of the criminal code, is the most draconian of its kind in the world. Defendants face up to 15 years in jail per offense, with consecutive terms possible. Anyone can make a complaint of lese majeste to the police.
These recent charges come at a relatively quiet time for Thailand after a year of much unrest. Since mid-December, large protest groups have refrained from holding mass rallies due to the resurgence of COVID-19 in the kingdom.
But angered by the government's recent actions, a small group rallied at Victory Monument in central Bangkok on Saturday, asking onlookers to write their own protest messages on a 112 m blank banner.
The demonstration soon met a violent crackdown by the police acting on the government's ban on political gatherings brought in on Dec. 26. Before the banner was confiscated, one of the supporters wrote "the COVID-19 is just an excuse," implying that the government was using the pandemic to impose restrictions in Bangkok to quell the pro-democracy movement rather than to stop the spread of the virus.
"Slitting the chicken's neck to frighten the monkeys" was how one royal observer described recent developments. On Tuesday, a Thai woman was sentenced to a jail term of 43 years and six months for lese majeste charges over her actions in 2015, luridly displaying what the law is capable of.
Royalists have been encouraged by King Vajiralongkorn's unusual long stay on home soil to go on the offensive. Since his accession to the throne in 2016, the king had spent most of his time in Germany. But over the past few months, he has traveled around Thailand, occasionally mingling with his supporters.
On Wednesday, prominent royalist Warong Dechgitvigrom announced the formation of a pro-monarchy political party called Thai Pakdee. "Today, we stand up and fight for the entire nation's revered and beloved institution," he said, referring to the monarchy.
Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, a pro-democracy politician and co-founder of the dissolved Future Forwad, quickly responded to Warong's move on Twitter. "The formation of a party that advocates the protection of the monarchy, whether by good intention or in the name of destroying others, only brings the monarchy into the political sphere," he tweeted.
Re: Lese-majeste charges filed against Thanathorn
Interesting video on the current uprising in Thailand.
Although if I were the female lead protester in the video, I wouldn't be starting a retirement plan anytime soon.
The difference between animals and humans is that animals would never allow the dumb ones to lead the pack.
-
phuketrichard
- Expatriate
- Posts: 16879
- Joined: Wed May 14, 2014 5:17 pm
- Reputation: 5782
- Location: Atlantis
Re: Lese-majeste charges filed against Thanathorn
the route of his problems
Now this i dont get,
than we have this
these are from outside thailand
28 million doses....another 14 million Thai's 20% this year
https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/thai ... 9-vaccines
so total 64% this year alone
so why are they saying it will take till mid 2022 to vaccinate 70% of the population?
Thailand may reach the herd immunity threshold only in 2022, given its slow vaccine rollout compared to higher-income countries with a similar population, like the U.K.
Am i missing something?
BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai court has ordered a leading government foe to remove allegations on social media that the state’s coronavirus vaccine policy is opaque and unfairly favours a company owned by the king, the government said on Sunday.
However, opposition politician Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit’s Progressive Movement denied the videos were illegal and urged YouTube and Facebook to preserve freedom of expression.
The clips could still be viewed late on Sunday.
Thailand’s Digital Ministry said the Criminal Court ruled that Thanathorn’s posts on social media and his movement’s website could breach national security.
The videos accuse Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s government of lack of transparency in allowing Siam Bioscience, which is owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, to supply most doses despite a lack of vaccine experience.
Siam Bioscience received a 600 million baht ($20 million) subsidy to develop capacity to manufacture AstraZeneca vaccines domestically and across Southeast Asia.
Now this i dont get,
Thats enough for 30.5 million thais out of the 69 million.... 44%The government says Siam Bioscience manufacturing is on track to deliver a first batch of 61 million doses to the public by June.
than we have this
these are from outside thailand
28 million doses....another 14 million Thai's 20% this year
https://thethaiger.com/coronavirus/thai ... 9-vaccines
so total 64% this year alone
so why are they saying it will take till mid 2022 to vaccinate 70% of the population?
Thailand may reach the herd immunity threshold only in 2022, given its slow vaccine rollout compared to higher-income countries with a similar population, like the U.K.
Am i missing something?
In a nation run by swine, all pigs are upward-mobile and the rest of us are fucked until we can put our acts together: not necessarily to win, but mainly to keep from losing completely. HST
-
- Similar Topics
- Replies
- Views
- Last post
-
- 1 Replies
- 1867 Views
-
Last post by John Bingham
-
- 159 Replies
- 15663 Views
-
Last post by nemo
-
- 0 Replies
- 4907 Views
-
Last post by CEOCambodiaNews
-
- 1 Replies
- 1291 Views
-
Last post by Yerg
-
- 0 Replies
- 678 Views
-
Last post by CEOCambodiaNews
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: Chuck Borris, Google Feedfetcher, Khmu Nation, truffledog, Username Taken, Zyzz and 555 guests