Parliament president Chuan Leekpai has been indicted for defamation in a suit filed by former premier Thaksin Shinawatra, who claimed the House speaker defamed him in a speech back in 2012.
Mr Chuan, a former Democrat Party leader, was indicted by prosecutors at South Bangkok Criminal Court on Tuesday, according to his lawyer, Ramet Rattanachaweng.
The indictment, which came just three days before the case's statute of limitations expires, followed a complaint filed by Thaksin, in which he claimed Mr Chuan made defamatory remarks about him in a speech at the Democrat Party's political school on Oct 28, 2012.
Mr Ramet said Mr Chuan instructed him to acknowledge the charge, as not doing so would undermine the integrity and reputation of the police and prosecutors in the eyes of the public.
He said everyone must be treated equally in front of the law, and that he was ready to fight, Mr Ramet said.
In the speech, Mr Chuan spoke about the "mistakes" made by Thaksin and his administration in handling the unrest in the deep South, the complaint said.
According to Mr Ramet, Thaksin wanted the police to charge Mr Chuan for defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act. However, the police decided to indict Mr Chuan for defamation.
For a long time, there were no new developments in the case, leading many to believe it had been concluded, said Mr Ramet, who is also a Democrat spokesman.
Mr Ramet said he recently received a call from the police, who reminded him the statute of limitations in the defamation case was expiring on Oct 28 and that he should bring Mr Chuan in to be indicted.
Had Mr Chuan decided not to acknowledge the charge by the time the statute of limitations lapsed, he would have been able to escape prosecution.