The Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld two lower-court decisions to sentence Somkid Banthaisong, a former Pheu Thai MP for Nong Khai province, to a six-month suspended jail term and order him to pay 500,000 baht compensation for defaming an army officer during a red-shirt protest in 2009.
Former Pheu Thai MP Somkid Banthaisong addresses the House of Representatives in this 2008 file photo. (Bangkok Post photo)
According to the defamation lawsuit filed by prosecutors on Jan 11, 2011, Somkid - while speaking to a meeting of the House of Representatives on April 23 that year - accused Lt Col Kriengsak Nanthaphodej, commander of the 2nd Infantry Battalion of the 12th Infantry Regiment, of being responsible for the mistreatment of a female protester.
The lawsuit stated that Somkid told the House that a man, who was wearing a green T-shirt, grasped the woman by her hair and dragged her down the road. The House session was broadcast live nationwide.
The Criminal Court found Somkid guilty of defaming the officer, sentencing him to six months imprisonment and a fine of 10,000 baht. He also was ordered him to pay 500,000 baht to Lt Col Kriengsak. The jail term was suspended for two years.
The Appeal Court later upheld the verdict.
Somkid forwarded the case to the Supreme Court. He asked the court to dismiss the case, reasoning that what he said in the House of Representatives was an honest expression of his political opinion with no intentions of defaming the officer.
The Supreme Court upheld the two lower courts' verdict.