By By D. Arul Rajoo, Bernama,
Bangkok : Jakrapob Penkair, a former Thai Cabinet minister and a strong ally of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thursday surrendered to the police over charges of “lese majeste” (lack of respect for the monarch).
Accompanied by members of the ruling People’s Power Party (PPP), the 41-year-old Jakrapob turned himself in at the Crime Suppression Division to meet police investigators.
Jakrapob, who helmed the Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship after Thaksin was ousted in a bloodless coup on Sept 19 2006, maintained his innocence and claimed that the charges were politically motivated.
Two weeks ago, he quit his Cabinet post after police said they would file a lese majeste charge against him over his controversial speech at a panel discussion organised by the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand in August last year when he was leading the movement.
“I am innocent … this case is politically motivated. I never insulted the monarch and I will let the court decide,” he told reporters.
Police investigator Lt Col Wattanasak Mungkandee, who filed the complaint against Jakrapob, had also filed similar charges against the BBC correspondent in Thailand, Jonathan Head, for remarks made when he was moderating the panel discussion.
Under Thai law, anyone found guilty of committing lese majeste can be sentenced to jail for between three and 15 years.
Jakrapob studied political science at Chulalongkorn University here before pursuing masters and doctorate degrees in economics at Johns Hopkins University in the United States. He had worked at the Foreign Ministry and later as a government spokesman in 2003.
In his speech at the FCCT, Jakrapob spoke on the patronage system in the kingdom and criticised Gen Prem Tinsulanonda, a former prime minister and currently the president of the Privy Council.
Jakrapob denied he was anti-monarch and claimed that his speech was wrongly translated into Thai.