Ruling party in clear, say ex-EC members
Two former election commissioners testified yesterday in the Criminal Court that they did not punish the Thai Rak Thai Party because it had not been proven to have committed electoral wrongdoing.
Prinya Nakchudtree and Virachai Naewboonnien were defending themselves against a charge of failing to take legal action against the Thai Rak Thai Party after an Election Commission (EC) subcommittee found that its executives had hired the Pattana Chart Thai and Thai Ground parties to contest the April 2 general election. The Criminal Court on July 25 sentenced Prinya, Virachai and the then EC chairman Vasana Puemlarp to four years in jail for mishandling the election. Prinya said he did not remember if the EC had filed a complaint against caretaker Defence Minister Thamarak Isarangura and caretaker Transport Minister Pongsak Ruktapongpisal. The EC subcommittee had implicated both Thai Rak Thai executives in the bankrolling of small parties to contest the April 2 election. Testifying to the court on Wednesday, Vasana said the accusation that he failed to act against the Thai Rak Thai Party was unjustified because he had not yet learnt the EC panel's findings when Democrat Party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban filed a lawsuit against him and his colleagues for dereliction of duty.
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