Thailand’s ex-PM Samak loses another court battle
BANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand’s Appeals Court upheld a two-year jail sentence Thursday in a defamation case against former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who was recently forced to resign for violating the constitution.
Samak, who rose to his feet for the verdict, was stunned by the court’s decision and lost his balance. Two court aides caught his arms to prevent him from falling.
The court said it saw no reason to suspend the jail term handed down last year by the Criminal Court, which convicted Samak of defaming a former deputy mayor of Bangkok during a television talk show in January 2006.
Defense attorney Prachum Thongmee said Samak would appeal the decision to the Supreme Court.
The Criminal Court verdict was in April 2007 and the sentence was on appeal when Samak became prime minister early this year. Samak, known for his sharp tongue, had been convicted three other times for defamation and given suspended sentences.
This time, the Appeals Court said it wanted to teach him a lesson.
“The defendant has repeatedly defamed others with groundless, damaging information,” the court said in its decision Thursday, read out by a judge. “The courts have given the defendant chances to reform and change his behavior but the defendant has not changed. So there is no reason to reduce the punishment.”
The defamation occurred when Samak accused the city official of receiving a luxury car as a bribe from a construction firm — a charge the official proved was groundless after showing he had bought the car.
Thursday’s ruling was the second crucial court battle lost by Samak this month. Both stemmed from television appearances.
He was kicked out of office Sept. 9 when the Constitutional Court ruled he had violated confict-of-interest laws by accepting pay for hosting TV cooking shows while serving as prime minister.
Samak’s resignation had been demanded for weeks by anti-government protesters, who accused Samak of acting as a proxy for deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The court action was not directly related to the protests.
[...] Thailand’s ex-PM Samak loses another court battleBANGKOK, Thailand – Thailand’s Appeals Court upheld a two-year jail sentence Thursday in a defamation case against former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who was recently forced to resign for violating the constitution. … [...]
Samak resigns as leader of PPP
Disqualified premier Samak Sundaravej resigned as leader of People Power party (PPP) Tuesday, according to party registrar Samarn Lertwongrat.
Mr Samarn will hold a press conference on the matter in the afternoon.
Mr Samak, who was disqualified by the Constitution Court from the top post on September 15 for violating the constitution by hosting two cooking shows on commercial television, still maintains his position as MP of PPP.