Former PM Thaksin Shinawatra Faces Lese-Majeste Charges Over Decade-Old Comments

In Thailand, the police have charged former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra with insulting the monarchy over comments he made almost a decade ago.

The Officials yesterday said that the complaint concerns a 2015 interview that Thaksin gave while in South Korea.

The complaint was filed by the military government that ran Thailand after overthrowing a government led by Thaksin’s sister Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014.

According to media reports, the potential charge comes just weeks



before his possible release on parole. It said, Mr Shinawatra is the latest political figure to face prosecution under the country’s strict lese majeste laws.

Thailand's lese-majeste law, which forbids the insult of the monarchy, is among the strictest in the world. According to Article 112 of Thailand's criminal code, anyone who defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent will be punished with a jail term between three and 15 years.