The Supreme Court yesterday acquitted imprisoned media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul and 10 others of charges brought by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the defunct Thai Rak Thai Party over a seminar on the so-called "Finland Declaration".
Sondhi, the founder of the Manager Media Group, was brought from Klong Prem Prison to hear the ruling at the Criminal Court.
The defendants also included former Bangkok senator Chirmsak Pinthong and academic Pramote Nakhonthap, along with those involved in the broadcasting of the discussion on the ASTV satellite network and the Manager website.
All defendants in the case turned up at the court to hear the judgement except prominent academic Chai-Anan Samudavanija, who claimed to be too ill to attend.
The failed lawsuit alleged that Thaksin and the party were defamed during a panel discussion on the "Finland Declaration and Thai Rak Thai's political strategy" at the main auditorium of Thammasat University between May 24-28, 2006.
Thaksin was prime minister and head of the Thai Rak Thai Party at the time.
On March 24, 2009, the Criminal Court dismissed the case, reasoning the defendants had not proved that the "Finland Declaration" really existed, and the participants only criticised the way Thai Rak Thai and Thaksin were handling the country's administration.
The plaintiffs took their case to the Appeal Court, which upheld the lower court's decision, and subsequently to the Supreme Court.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower courts' rulings to acquit all defendants in the case, saying they had made honest comments on the issue. The first four defendants had been criticising the plaintiffs over their administration of the country and the criticism was based on facts.
Under Paragraph 3 of Section 329 of the Criminal Code, honest comments by individuals and the public do not constitute a defamation offence, the court said.
During the panel discussion, none of the four defendants confirmed that Thaksin met other Thai Rak Thai co-founders in Finland to reach any agreement.
The court found the comments made by the four defendants were not defamatory, while the other defendants who jointly organised the seminar and disseminated those comments were also not guilty of defaming the plaintiffs.
Sondhi is currently serving a 20-year jail term in Bangkok Remand Prison after being convicted in a separate case filed by the Securities Exchange of Thailand.