Former Deputy Education Minister Kanokwan Wilawan was banned from holding political posts for life today (Wednesday), after she was found guilty of gross violation of ethical standards for land encroachment in Khao Yai National Park, in Prachin Buri province, by the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders.
She was also stripped of her voting rights and the right to contest elections for ten years.
Kanokwan, who was suspended from performing her duties as deputy education minister by the same court in August last year, did not attend the court hearing today.
According to the charge sheet from the NACC, Kanokwan filed for a land title deed on February 14th, 2002, with land officials in Prachin Buri province for a plot of land of about 4.8 hectares in Noen Hom sub-district of Prachin Buri, which she claimed she had bought from a “Thiew Malisorn”.
The NACC, which is the plaintiff in the case, claimed that “Thiew” did not exist and that Kanokwan had never made use of the land as she claimed.
The court found her guilty of unlawfully seeking vested interests for herself, in violation of ethical standards, thus tarnishing her position as deputy education minister.
The court decided to remove her from her post as deputy education minister and stripped her of her political rights for ten years. She was also banned from holding any political post for the rest of her life.
