Sept 4 ruling on Noppadon Preah Vihear case

Sept 4 ruling on Noppadon Preah Vihear case

Cambodian officials and civilians guard a stairway to the Preah Vihear temple in the disputed border area in 2013. (Post File Photo)
Cambodian officials and civilians guard a stairway to the Preah Vihear temple in the disputed border area in 2013. (Post File Photo)

The Supreme Court will rule on Sept 4 on whether former foreign minister Noppadon Pattama committed malfeasance for supporting an agreement that allowed Cambodia to unilaterally seek the listing of the Preah Vihear temple as its World Heritage site.

On Friday a nine-judge panel of the high court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions heard the last witness for Mr Noppadon, the defendant. The panel then told the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), the plaintiff, and Mr Noppadon's side to file their closing statements on Aug 28. The court plans to announce its ruling at 1.30pm on Sept 4.

The NACC filed the suit on March 19, 2013. It accused Mr Noppadon of supporting a joint communique in 2008 without conducting a public hearing and seeking approval from parliament, as the 2007 constitution then in force required.

Mr Noppadon was the foreign minister in the government of the late Samak Sundaravej. He is also a legal adviser to exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

Noppadon had dissenting Foreign Ministry official transferred over communique dispute.

NACC lawyer Sitthichoke Sricharoen said on Friday that the NACC had presented about 10 witnesses including Virachai Plasai, former director-general of the Department of Treaties and Legal Affairs at the Foreign Ministry.

The NACC told the court that Mr Noppadon's support for the joint communique allowed Cambodia to seek a World Heritage listing for Preah Vihear even though both countries still had conflicting claims dating back a century to territory around the ancient Hindu temple.

As well, the Constitutional Court had ruled earlier that any Preah Vihear-related decisions that could compromise Thai territory required parliamentary approval first, Mr Sitthichoke said.

Mr Virachai opposed Mr Noppadon's support for the joint communique but Mr Noppadon instead convinced the cabinet to remove Mr Virachai from the director-general's position. Mr Virachai is now Thailand's permanent representative to the United Nations.

Mr Noppadon denied the charge and was released on bail of 2 million baht.

The International Court of Justice ruled in November 2013 that the land adjacent to the temple on the east and west (south being previously agreed as Cambodian, north as Thai) belonged to Cambodia and that any Thai security forces still in that area should leave.

But the court did not decide the larger issue of which country has authority over a disputed area covering 4.6 square kilometres, as requested by Cambodia in 2011. Instead it urged both sides to continue working to find a mutually acceptable solution.

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