Thailand: Jail for 'defaming' former 'minister'

THE leader of Thailand's 'Yellow Shirt' protest movement was handed a six-month jail sentence on Friday for defaming a former Thai foreign minister, a court official said.

Media mogul Sondhi Limthongkul, who led a blockade of Bangkok's airports last year to drive allies of fugitive ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra from government, faces a raft of libel cases by people he has criticised.

He was found guilty on Friday of defaming Noppadon Pattama during a programme on his TV channel, when he accused the former foreign minister of betraying the royal family by working as Thaksin's lawyer.

'Sondhi was sentenced to six months in jail without probation,' a court official said. He was also fined 20,000 baht (S$845), but the court let him remain free on bail while he appeals against the verdict.

On hearing the sentence, Mr Noppadon, who became foreign minister in 2007 but resigned the following year, said he was 'glad I received justice'.

'From now on, Sondhi must realise that he cannot go on making false claims against anyone in this country without being punished,' he told AFP.

Last month, a Thai appeals court reduced to six months the two-year jail term that Sondhi was given by a lower court in March 2008 for defaming former Deputy Transport Minister Phumtham Vechayachai.

Another court also sentenced Sondhi to two years in jail for defaming a second Thaksin ally, former central bank governor and Deputy Prime Minister Pridiyathorn Devakula. He was granted bail while he appeals both of those cases.

LNK

Thailand: Jail for 'defaming' former 'minister'

Thailand: Jail for 'defaming' former 'minister'

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