The royalist Thai Pakdee party and a network of pro-monarchy groups filed a lawsuit against Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong and the director-general of the Corrections Department today with the Supreme Administrative Court.
The suit demands the revocation of a departmental regulation and a ministerial regulation, which allow well-behaved convicts to complete their prison terms outside a prison.
The plaintiff also asked the court to issue a temporary injunction, pending a final ruling by the court on revocation.
The two edicts have come under fire from opponents of Thaksin, who claim that they had been specifically designed to favour convicted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Dr. Warong Dechgitvigrom, chairman of the Thai Pakdee party, said that the edicts enable the Justice Ministry and the Corrections Department, which are under the supervision of politicians, to supersede the judiciary by changing imprisonment to detention, which is a violation of the rule of law.
He also said that the edicts may contravene Section 179 of the Constitution.
Dr. Warong said that the justice minister, Corrections Department chief, the national police chief or the government must inform the public about Thaksin’s illnesses that require him to be treated at the Police General Hospital, rather than in a Corrections Department facility.
He also said that the public is in the dark as to whether Thaksin is still in the Police General Hospital.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Somsak Thepsuthin has criticised the Corrections Department and the Justice Ministry for lacking the courage to tell the truth about Thaksin’s illnesses and for not having done their homework properly pertaining to Thaksin’s case.
