The new government should consider passing a new law to grant amnesty to all those facing criminal sentences in connection with their political activities regardless of their affiliations, said Piyabutr Saengkanokkul, secretary-general of the Progressive Movement, on Tuesday.
Piyabutr: 'Amnesty for national unity'
Mr Piyabutr, a law expert and former lecturer at Thammasat University, said an amnesty would be an ideal way to bring about national unity as it would stop people from asking whether former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is receiving privileges over other inmates.
Thaksin has been in the Police General Hospital's premium ward after spending only 13 hours in Bangkok Remand Prison's quarantine area following his return from self-imposed exile abroad on Aug 22.
Upon his return, he was ordered by the court to serve eight years in prison over three corruption cases before he was last week granted a royal pardon in which the eight-year term was commuted to only one year.
However, amnesty should be granted to anyone prosecuted for their role in any political movement from 2005 until now, regardless of which political side they belonged to, Mr Piyabutr said.
"This would, in reality, become a first step for Thai society to overcome political conflicts and begin fostering national unity," he said.
Last October, the MFP proposed a similar amnesty for political cases as it unveiled its policy platform to kickstart the election campaign.
The proposed amnesty, particularly for political offenders facing legal action since the 2014 coup, was the highlight of its proposed reforms.
In 2013, a similar amnesty was touted during the Yingluck Shinawatra administration, which came under fire for trying to aid Thaksin. It became a precursor of the May 22, 2014 coup.
Asst Prof Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, a lecturer in the Faculty of Law of Thammasat University, is pressing the Department of Corrections to clarify whether Thaksin is really ill.
The answer is hinted at in the Ministry of Justice's new regulation about the detention in external facilities of sick prisoners who require treatment that is not available at the department's medical facility, he said.
It was signed in 2020 by ex-justice minister Somsak Thepsutin, who has now emerged as a deputy prime minister in the Pheu Thai Party-led government, he said.