UK opposes death for corruption

UK opposes death for corruption

Rolls-Royce bribery scandal spurs reply

The British charge d'affaires opposes the proposed introduction of capital punishment against corrupt officials, saying it presents no cure for this country's longstanding graft problem.

Following the Rolls-Royce bribery scandal which has embroiled Thailand's two big state enterprises -- Thai Airways International (THAI) and PTT Plc -- Margaret Tongue, charge d'affaires of the British embassy, said that while London stands ready to support Thailand's various efforts to address corruption, the imposition of the death sentence is not one of them.

Nonetheless, she added the UK government wants to support justice and security around the world.

According to a statement of facts prepared in a British court, the period of the scandal in the case of the national carrier dates from 1991 to 2005 and involves payments totalling about US$36.38 million (1.28 billion baht) to "regional intermediaries".

Some of the money was for individuals who were "agents of the state of Thailand and employees of THAI Airways".

The scandal pertains to the purchase by THAI of Rolls-Royce T800 engines, according to the document.

Ms Tongue was speaking Thursday at a seminar on measures to stamp out corruption drawn from the example of the Rolls-Royce bribery case, organised by the Anti-Corruption Organisation of Thailand (ACT) in Bangkok.

"The British government is opposed to the use of the death penalty," she stressed.

Ms Tongue urged the government to be more open and transparent as death row does not reduce the likelihood of corruption.

Overlapping responsibilities between organisations that work to put an end to corruption should be avoided, she suggested.

"In the UK, I think there are at least nine departments within the central government dealing with anti-corruption tasks," she said, adding the British government launched a cross-government, anti-corruption plan in 2014 to address the complexity.

However, she said Thailand is taking steps in the right direction in tackling national issues, including corruption through the implementation of the Pracharat model marking close cooperation among the people, the government and the business sector forged in pursuit of sustainable development.

The charge d'affaires said if businesses fail to prevent bribes from being paid, the wrongdoers could face 10 years imprisonment, up from seven years, according to the referendum-approved charter.

Vicha Mahakhun, a former member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission said capital punishment is unlikely to be meted out against convicted corrupt officials.

"Even the seizure of assets of serious wrongdoers is rare," he said, adding that bribe-givers should be held to the same standard as those accepting bribes.

On the question of whether any company resorting to bribes for the benefit of getting a commercial deal should be pulled out of the Stock Exchange, Rapee Sucharitakul, secretary-general of the Securities and Exchange Commission dismissed the idea, saying it could affect thousands of innocent shareholders who were not aware of the company's corruption.

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