On August 17, 2007, the attorney for Dr. Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife, Khun Ying Potjaman, filed a criminal lawsuit against eleven members of the AEC in the Criminal Court. The charges relate to the Ratchadapisek land deal. According to the lawsuit, each member of the AEC, acting as a government officer, has abused his/her power and committed malfeasance in their official duties by not complying with the legal procedures set forth in regards to the corruption investigation under the Counter-Corruption Act. Further each member of the AEC knows that both plaintiffs are no longer in Thailand and the actual residence of both plaintiffs is in the UK, all defendants still made submissions to the Attorney General and the Court that both plaintiffs live in Bangkok, Thailand. The summons proceedings conducted by the Attorney General as well as the Court therefore were deficient and unlawful.
The Criminal Court has accepted the complaint and set November 26, 2007, at 9.00 a.m. as first hearing date. Please note that this is quite a major step because previously the Criminal Court has tended to reject criminal lawsuits against the AEC on various grounds.
Normally a Thai Court tends to be cautious in accepting a criminal charge submitted by a private party unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that the case has some merit.
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