THAILAND: COURT SENTENCES THREE IN LOTTERY CASE,

S E C R E T SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 002510 SIPDIS STATE FOR EAP/MLS, NSC FOR WALTON E.O. 12958: DECL: AFTER THE DEATH OF CROWN PRINCE VAJIRALONGKORN TAGS: PREL PGOV TH SUBJECT: THAILAND: COURT SENTENCES THREE IN LOTTERY CASE, ABSOLVES THAKSIN CABINET, RESERVES JUDGMENT ON THAKSIN REF: A. BANGKOK 2289 (THAI POLITICAL ROUNDUP) ¶B. BANGKOK 2418 (RUBBER SAPLING) ¶C. BANGKOK 2489 (PREAH VIHEAR IN PLAY AGAIN) ¶D. BANKOK 2386 (RED SHIRTS PREPARE TO MARCH) BANGKOK 00002510 001.2 OF 002 Classified By: CHARGE D'AFFAIRS A.I. JAMES F. ENTWISTLE, REASON 1.4 (B) AND (D) ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: The Thai Supreme Court on September 30 handed down suspended jail terms to three officials from the Thaksin administration for their role in a lottery scheme deemed illegal, though they were not convicted on separate charges of financial corruption/benefitting from the lottery. The court acquitted most of the Cabinet members named in the case and scheduled a November reading against four other defendants who did not appear in court. Any potential judgment against Thaksin will be held in abeyance until his return, since he was not present in country when legal proceedings began. ¶2. (C) COMMENT: The lottery case was the last of three legal cases against Thaksin and his associates grabbing headlines the past ten days. Despite warnings from the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD, aka the "red-shirts") during the September 19 rally, that the three court cases could again prove "double standards" in the Thai judicial system and be a basis to rally further support, the results were decidedly mixed. The rubber sapling case (ref B) acquitted Thaksin cabinet members of charges of malfeasance based on a purported lack of evidence. The National Counter Corruption Commission indicted former PM Samak and former FM Noppadon for their part in supporting Cambodia's request to UNESCO to inscribe Preah Vihear in the list of World Heritage Sites, but exonerated most of the other officials involved (ref C). The lottery decision dropped the most serious charges but found evidence that the officials, at Thaksin's direction, had knowingly broken existing laws on lotteries in setting up the two and three digit lottery schemes in 2003. The rulings, in not satisfying either yellow or red hard-core supporters, suggest that Thailand's justice system is capable of reviewing politically-charged cases and making decisions based on evidence and relevant laws. ¶3. (S) Comment continued: the Thaksin-era lottery also has a tangential, though unreported, connection to one of the political dramas unfolding currently in Thailand: the ongoing dispute over appointment of a new National Police Chief and the possible resignation of PM Abhisit's Secretary General Niphon Promphan, who also works for the Crown Prince. At the Crown Prince's direction, Niphon opposed Abhisit's choice, GEN Patheep, in favor of the Crown Prince's choice, GEN Chumpol Manmai. The inside story on why the Crown Prince wanted Chumpol so much, and risk criticism for intervening in a high level personnel choice against the evident wishes of the PM, is that Chumpol allegedly served as Thaksin's bag man, personally delivering to the Crown Prince monies skimmed off the proceeds of the lotteries involved in the current court case. While such a story cannot be reported in the Thai media due to Lese Majeste concerns, the Crown Prince-Chumpol connection underscores the sense of lottery critics that Thaksin launched the lottery scheme to create a government slush fund which he could use to fund not only populist schemes like scholarships but also pet projects off the books for personal and political gain, without any accountability. End Summary and Comment. MIXED VERDICT: GUILTY STOOGES, INNOCENT CABINET, THAKSIN LATER -------------- -------------- ¶4. (U) The Supreme Court's Criminal Department for Holders of Political Positions on September 30 sentenced three high ranking Thaksin administration officials to two years imprisonment, suspended, for their roles in the two- and three-digit lottery project initiated in 2003. The nine-judge panel found former Deputy Finance Minister Warathep Rattanakorn, former Finance Ministry Permanent Secretary Somchainuek Engtrakul, and former Director General of the Government Lottery Office Chaiwat Phasokphakdee guilty BANGKOK 00002510 002.2 OF 002 of violating the Government Lottery Office Act. Of the 47 people implicated in the scheme, including most members of Thaksin's former Cabinet, the three were the only ones found guilty; most of the other defendants were acquitted as the court determined they did not know the scheme was illegal at the time it was presented to the Cabinet for approval. The court issued arrest warrants for ex-Finance Minister Suchart Chaovisit, ex-Commerce Minister Adisai Photharamik, former Director General of the Government Lottery Office Surasit Sangkhapong, and Somchainuek for their failure to appear at the court. Verdicts against these four are due to be announced on November 19. ¶5. (SBU) The panel found that the three acted at the direction of then PM Thaksin, suggesting they would find Thaksin guilty as well. However, the decision against Thaksin will be held in abeyance until he returns to Thailand, since under Thai law criminal/judicial proceedings cannot start in the absence of a defendent. ¶6. (C) National Counter Corruption Commission (NCCC) attorney Sitthichoke Sricharoen, who filed the case for the NCCC, told us October 1 that the Supreme Court decision was a good verdict and set a precedent for future cases. Sittichoke claimed it showed that the judges had carefully studied the evidence in the case, the relevant laws and regulations, and convicted only those who had intentionally violated the law. Sitthchoke regretted that the judges had not given more severe penal terms; a two-year sentence can be immediately suspended, as was done in this case, while sentences three years or more cannot be suspended. REDSHIRT REACTION SO FAR...MUTED -------------- ¶7. (SBU) During the September 19 red-shirt rally, red-shirt speakers warned supporters that the series of legal cases against Thaksin-affiliated politicians in the next two weeks would offer evidence of double standards of the Thai judiciary, and provide reason to initiate another protest in October. Despite the decidedly mixed results in the three cases, with nearly all defendents exonerated, UDD spinmeister Sean Boonpracong claimed to us October 1 that this latest decision was one more instance of the justice system pounding away at the red-shirts. Publicly, though, the red reaction has been negligible. ENTWISTLE