BANGKOK, May 1 (NNN-Bernama) — Thailand’s Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit claimed the petition filed against him for holding shares of a media company during the March 24 General Election is “politically motivated”.
The rising star in Thai politics said the latest petition filed against him for violating the election law for holding 675,000 shares in V-Luck Media Company, after registering his candidacy in the election, has “no grounds”.
“I am confident about making the clarification today.
“We believe there are no evidence which can destroy what we have proven to the public earlier,” he told a media conference here today.
Earlier, Thanathorn submitted evidence to support his claim at the Thailand Election Commission (EC) office here today.
He met the EC investigation panel for four hours today.
Last week, Thanathorn was accused of violating election law which he denied, saying that he had sold the media shares on Jan 8, before he registered as a candidate for the general election.
On April 6, Thanathorn was charged with sedition in an anti-junta rally dating back to 2015.
He is also facing another two charges for violating Article 189 for assisting others who committed serious crimes and Article 215 for taking part in an illegal assembly.
He could face up to nine years in jail if found guilty.
Meanwhile, Future Forward secretary-general Piyabutr Saengkanokkul said those who filed petitions against winning candidate in the March 24 election could face stern actions under the Organic Law.
“If petitioners filed false petition just to disqualify the winning candidates, they (petitioners) could be fined, jailed and banned from politics for 20 years,” he said.
On Monday, activist Srisuwan Janya urged the EC to take legal action against 11 election candidates of the Future Forward Party for allegedly holding shares in media companies during general election.
Bangkok Post reported that if found guilty, they could face jail a maximum jail term of 10 years and/or fine from 20,000 to 200,000 baht, and lose their electoral rights for 20 years.
— BERNAMA