Former Democrat Party MP Wachara Petchthong was yesterday given a suspended jail sentence and ordered to pay a 320,000-baht fine, and 500,000 baht in compensation to a former member of the now-defunct National Legislative Assembly (NLA) in a defamation case.
Mr Wachara was found guilty of defaming Chatchawan Apibalsri, the former NLA member who also was a former adviser to the committee managing the new parliament's construction.
Mr Chatchawan also previously chaired the committee accelerating construction of the parliament complex, said the ruling yesterday.
The court sentenced Mr Wachara to four years in prison and ordered him to pay a total fine of 480,000 baht. However, the punishment was commuted to two years and eight months with a fine of 320,000 baht due to his useful testimony, said the ruling.
As for Mr Chatchawan's demand for financial compensation of one million baht, the court determined the amount to be excessive and ordered Mr Wachara to pay 500,000 baht plus 7.5% interest instead.
The court also ordered Mr Wachara to arrange for the publication of the ruling in Thai Rath and Daily News for three days.
According to the ruling, from March 7-13, 2018, Mr Wachara on four occasions falsely accused Mr Chatchawan of being an influential figure in the NLA who inflated the budget for installing an information technology system at the new parliament building from about three billion baht to eight billion baht.
Mr Wachara defended himself, saying his comments were honest criticism. The court rejected that, saying he defamed Mr Chatchawan.