By Budsarakham Sinlapalavan,
Somroutai Sapsomboon
The Nation
Today is the last day of the Assets Examination Committee's term, but tomorrow the Supreme Court begins the trial of the first case investigated by the agency.
Out of the 14 cases the AEC has investigated, the Ratchadaphisek land deal is the first to have successfully been brought before the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. The attorneygeneral submitted it to the court on June 21 last year.
Other cases submitted to the court include the allegedly illegal introduction of twoand threedigit lotteries, alleged irregularities in the government's rubber sapling project and the case of Exim Bank's loans to Burma.
The AEC is quietly confident that the evidence in the Ratchadaphisek land case will convict former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The court will start hearing the case tomorrow (Tuesday), and the AEC will be summoned to give testimony on July 29.
The two sides will each field 22 individual witnesses. Examination of additional witnesses starts on September 2.
Udom Fuangfung, looked up to as the foremost corruptionbuster in the AEC, headed the investigative panel for the case.
In an exclusive interview with The Nation, he said he could not guarantee the AEC would win the case because it was up the court to interpret the relevant laws. However, he said he would not have sought indictment if he were not convinced of the merits of the case.
The Office of the AttorneyGeneral and Pachara Yutidhammadamrong - then the attorneygeneral - also believed the case was solid and decided to indict the suspects, he said.
Statistics show the court has dropped less than 10 per cent of all cases on which the attorneygeneral has ruled for indictment, Udom said.
The AEC found that the offences committed in the land purchase concern Article 100 of the National Counter Corruption Commission Act and Articles 152 and 157 of the Criminal Code.
Udom said Article 152 incriminates only state officials, not their spouses or children. If wives or children commit the offence, the AEC cannot take recourse to this provision against them.
Article 100 (3) of the NCCC Act was drafted to plug legal loopholes over conflicts of interฌest following a highprofile case in which a politician evaded prosecution when his wife sold a plot of land to a state agency, even though he gained from the deal. It stipulates that husbands must be punished for offences committed by their wives.
If Thaksin is found guilty in this case, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
The legal dispute in this case centres on whether the prime minister has jurisdiction over every ministry. If he does, he is banned from having any vested interest in any ministry.
"The defendants cannot be dismissed by citing that the Financial Institutions Development Fund [FIDF] is a state enterprise,'' Udom said.
The FIDF sold the Ratchadaphisek plot to Thaksin's wife Pojaman at what is alleged to be a preferential rate.
Udom added that if the justice system was not interfered with and the case judged fairly, the country's political knot would be untangled.
"Please do not use extra power to distort the case, like what happened to independent agencies and even at court level, otherwise the problems facing the country will not end,'' he said.
The defendants now appear to be in a difficult situation as the head of their lawyer's team Pichit Chuenban was jailed for contempt of court for six months last week.
Udom and Klanarong Chantik, who have the most information in the case, will be the main players on the plainฌtiff side.
On working with the AEC, Udom said he had decided to join the committee as soon as he was invited.
"From the first day I started work till today, I believe I have been on the right path. Even though the decision deprived me of job opportunities, I thought I should do good deeds for the motherland,'' he said.
"Apart from losing job opportunities, I also have oppoฌnents whom I do not see as eneฌmies. I have become a defendant in so many civil and criminal cases that I have lost count."
He said the country would see less corruption if all checksandbalances agencies joined hands at all levels to bring culprits to justice.
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Somroutai Sapsomboon
The Nation
Today is the last day of the Assets Examination Committee's term, but tomorrow the Supreme Court begins the trial of the first case investigated by the agency.
Out of the 14 cases the AEC has investigated, the Ratchadaphisek land deal is the first to have successfully been brought before the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. The attorneygeneral submitted it to the court on June 21 last year.
Other cases submitted to the court include the allegedly illegal introduction of twoand threedigit lotteries, alleged irregularities in the government's rubber sapling project and the case of Exim Bank's loans to Burma.
The AEC is quietly confident that the evidence in the Ratchadaphisek land case will convict former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The court will start hearing the case tomorrow (Tuesday), and the AEC will be summoned to give testimony on July 29.
The two sides will each field 22 individual witnesses. Examination of additional witnesses starts on September 2.
Udom Fuangfung, looked up to as the foremost corruptionbuster in the AEC, headed the investigative panel for the case.
In an exclusive interview with The Nation, he said he could not guarantee the AEC would win the case because it was up the court to interpret the relevant laws. However, he said he would not have sought indictment if he were not convinced of the merits of the case.
The Office of the AttorneyGeneral and Pachara Yutidhammadamrong - then the attorneygeneral - also believed the case was solid and decided to indict the suspects, he said.
Statistics show the court has dropped less than 10 per cent of all cases on which the attorneygeneral has ruled for indictment, Udom said.
The AEC found that the offences committed in the land purchase concern Article 100 of the National Counter Corruption Commission Act and Articles 152 and 157 of the Criminal Code.
Udom said Article 152 incriminates only state officials, not their spouses or children. If wives or children commit the offence, the AEC cannot take recourse to this provision against them.
Article 100 (3) of the NCCC Act was drafted to plug legal loopholes over conflicts of interฌest following a highprofile case in which a politician evaded prosecution when his wife sold a plot of land to a state agency, even though he gained from the deal. It stipulates that husbands must be punished for offences committed by their wives.
If Thaksin is found guilty in this case, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
The legal dispute in this case centres on whether the prime minister has jurisdiction over every ministry. If he does, he is banned from having any vested interest in any ministry.
"The defendants cannot be dismissed by citing that the Financial Institutions Development Fund [FIDF] is a state enterprise,'' Udom said.
The FIDF sold the Ratchadaphisek plot to Thaksin's wife Pojaman at what is alleged to be a preferential rate.
Udom added that if the justice system was not interfered with and the case judged fairly, the country's political knot would be untangled.
"Please do not use extra power to distort the case, like what happened to independent agencies and even at court level, otherwise the problems facing the country will not end,'' he said.
The defendants now appear to be in a difficult situation as the head of their lawyer's team Pichit Chuenban was jailed for contempt of court for six months last week.
Udom and Klanarong Chantik, who have the most information in the case, will be the main players on the plainฌtiff side.
On working with the AEC, Udom said he had decided to join the committee as soon as he was invited.
"From the first day I started work till today, I believe I have been on the right path. Even though the decision deprived me of job opportunities, I thought I should do good deeds for the motherland,'' he said.
"Apart from losing job opportunities, I also have oppoฌnents whom I do not see as eneฌmies. I have become a defendant in so many civil and criminal cases that I have lost count."
He said the country would see less corruption if all checksandbalances agencies joined hands at all levels to bring culprits to justice.
Discuss
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Tell a friend
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