THAI GOVERNMENT'S FOES CALL FOR CRIMINAL CHARGES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002137 SIPDIS NSC FOR PHU E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/14/2018 TAGS: PGOV PREL KDEM KJUS TH SUBJECT: THAI GOVERNMENT'S FOES CALL FOR CRIMINAL CHARGES AGAINST CABINET REF: A. BANGKOK 2111 (FM RESIGNS) ¶B. BANGKOK 2091 (CLOUDED FUTURE) ¶C. BANGKOK 1879 (MINISTER CHARGED WITH LESE MAJESTE) BANGKOK 00002137 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: Ambassador Eric G. John, reason: 1.4 (b) and (d). SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (C) A group of leading critics of the Samak administration on July 14 filed a complaint alleging that the cabinet, former Prime Minister Thaksin, and other RTG officials committed serious violations of the THAI Penal Code in initially supporting the inscription of the Preah Vihear temple on the UNESCO World Heritage List. The National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) will review this complaint; if a majority of the NCCC Commissioners vote to forward the complaint to the Supreme Court, this would require all targeted officials to stop performing their government duties; such a determination could be made within a few months. Although the basis for the complaint appears questionable, this process will likely cause further headaches for the embattled Samak administration. End Summary. SUPPORTING TEMPLE INSCRIPTION TANTAMOUNT TO TREASON -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) Leading figures from the People's Alliance for Democracy (a group vehemently opposed to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the current government) on July 14 filed a request with the National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) for the investigation of alleged criminal acts committed by the cabinet and six other RTG officials. The allegations stem from the inscription of Preah Vihear temple on the UNESCO World Heritage List. ¶3. (U) The PAD alleges that Prime Minister Samak, his cabinet, and other officials violated sections 119 and 157 of the Penal Code. According to the Embassy's unofficial translations, these sections provide as follows: - Article 119: "Whoever does any act with intent to cause the country or any part thereof to descend under the sovereignty of any foreign state, or to undermine the independence of the state, shall be punished with death or imprisonment for life." - Article 157: "Whoever, being an official, wrongfully exercises or does not exercise any of his functions to the injury of any person, or dishonestly exercises or omits to exercise any of his functions, shall be punished with imprisonment of one to ten years or fine of two thousand to twenty thousand Baht, or both." ¶4. (U) PAD's complaint targets the following officials, in addition to the Prime Minister and his cabinet members: - MFA Permanent Secretary Virasakdi Futrakul; - National Security Council Secretary General LTG Surapol Puanaiyaka; - RTAF Survey Department Director General LTG Dan Meechooarth; - MFA Director General of the Treaties and Legal Affairs Department Krit Kraichitti; - MFA Deputy Director General of the East Asian Department Pisanu Suvanajata; and - MFA Minister for Treaties and Legal Affairs Chirdchu Raktabutr, assigned to the THAI Embassy in Paris. ¶5. (U) PAD's complaint also alleges that, in the Preah Vihear matter, former Prime Minister Thaksin violated Article 120 of the Penal Code, which provides for no less than ten years' imprisonment for anyone who "does an act for the benefit of a foreign state with intent to cause the waging of battle BANGKOK 00002137 002.2 OF 002 against the state or hostility in another way against the state..." NCCC PROCEDURES -------------- ¶6. (U) The NCCC is the proper body to screen complaints of this nature; Article 250 of the constitution provides that the NCCC is charged with investigating criminal cases involving persons holding political positions. The constitution provides that such cases are to be referred by the NCCC to the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Office Holders. If the NCCC determines that a prima facie case exists against some of the officials in question, those officials will be required immediately to suspend their duties, according to Articles 272 and 275 of the constitution. ¶7. (C) An NCCC commissioner, aware of the upcoming filing, told us on July 13 that he anticipated that it would take approximately one week to determine whether the NCCC should formally accept PAD's complaint. Assessing the merits and determining whether a prima facie case exists should take three to four months, he said. According to the constitution, a simple majority vote by the NCCC suffices to determine whether a prima facie case exists, and to trigger the suspension of officials' duties. It is unclear how long a Supreme Court trial in this matter might take. ¶8. (C) The Ambassador spoke on July 13 with MFA Permanent Secretary Virasakdi, one of the officials targeted by the PAD. Virasakdi expressed serious concern about the PAD complaint. COMMENT -------------- ¶9. (C) We are not fully familiar with the technical details of the 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that the Preah Vihear temple belongs to Cambodia, nor with all aspects of Thai-Cambodian territorial disputes in the vicinity of the temple, nor with all implications of the temple's inscription. We are skeptical, however, that the inscription process provides reasonable grounds for the allegations of crimes tantamount to treason; we are confident that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs' lawyers carefully considered how to proceed prior to the Foreign Minister's mid-June signing of the Thai-Cambodian Joint Communique. Nevertheless, this issue has been heavily politicized, and the PAD appears willing to use any tool at its disposal to keep the government off-balance, or even bring it down. And given that the NCCC consists of figures selected by the 2006 coup leaders, we do not rule out that a meaningful number of the Commissioners will be sympathetically inclined toward the PAD's complaint. JOHN