Former Bangkok MP Sira Jenjaka was sentenced to eight months in prison yesterday (Tuesday) by the Criminal Court, after he was found guilty of defaming Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temeeyaves, a former national police chief and leader of the Thai Liberal party.

Sira accused Sereepisuth of building a private pier in the Chao Phraya River, in violation of the law.  He also led a group of reporters to Sereepisuth’s riverside property to see the pier, which he suggested was encroaching on the river.

The former police chief’s rebuttal was that he had received a permission to build the pier from the Marine Department and that the public prosecutor had already dropped the encroachment charges against him.

He also claimed that Sira’s accusation was politically motivated, because they frequently clashed verbally in parliament.

The court initially sentenced Sira to one-year in prison, but commuted the prison term to eight months due to his useful testimony. The court refused to suspend the imprisonment.

Last year, Sira was sentenced to 16 months in prison without suspension after the Don Mueang District court found him guilty of five counts of defamation and trespass, filed against him by Mongkutwattana Hospital and its director, Maj-Gen Rienthong Nanna.