BANGKOK (Reuters) -A criminal court in Thailand will on Friday deliver a verdict in a high-profile case of royal insult involving influential former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, the first in a series of upcoming rulings involving the powerful Shinawatra dynasty.
Despite officially being retired, divisive billionaire Thaksin remains a major force in Thai politics and is accused of the serious offence of lese-majeste, which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison if found guilty, over a 2015 media interview he gave during his long stint in self-imposed exile.
Thaksin denies wrongdoing and has repeatedly pledged allegiance to the king, who is enshrined in the Thai constitution as being in a position of “revered worship”, with the palace seen by royalists as sacrosanct.
The case stems from a complaint by the royalist military that ousted both Thaksin and sister Yingluck Shinawatra from power in coups in 2006 and 2014 respectively.
Thaksin’s is the highest-profile case among the more than 280 prosecutions in recent years under the controversial law, which activists say has been abused by conservatives to silence dissent and sideline political rivals. Royalists say the law is necessary to protect the crown.
Both the prosecutor and Thaksin can appeal Friday’s verdict. Asked about the case at a public event last month, Thaksin said: “I am not worried”.
The ruling on Thaksin comes a week ahead of another key verdict involving his daughter and prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, who has been in power for only a year.
Paetongtarn, 39, faces the prospect of dismissal by the Constitutional Court for an alleged violation of ethics over a leaked telephone conversation with Cambodia’s former leader Hun Sen, in what she said was an attempt to defuse a diplomatic crisis that later spiraled into five days of armed conflict.
Although Thaksin has no official role in government, the 76-year-old tycoon remains politically active and is widely seen as the power behind the ruling Pheu Thai party, which is losing popularity and hanging on by a thread over the conflict with neighbouring Cambodia and a stuttering economy.
Thaksin returned to Thailand in 2023 after 15 years abroad to serve an eight-year sentence for abuse of power and conflicts of interest, which was reduced to one year by King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
He did not spend a single night in jail, however, and was transferred to the luxury wing of a police hospital on medical grounds, where he remained for six months before being released on parole.
The Supreme Court will next month decide whether that hospital stint counts as time served and could potentially send Thaksin to prison.
(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Martin Petty)
