The Supreme Court has given a one-year jail term to Tarit Pengdith, former chief of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), for defaming former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban in a suspected graft case concerning the construction of police stations.
Yesterday's sentence, which was not suspended, came as a surprise to many pundits as it overturned two previous rulings by lower courts.
Mr Suthep filed the suit against Tarit on Feb 7, 2013 after the then-DSI boss said at several press conferences over a two-week period just prior to that date that Mr Suthep was responsible for the failure of the 6.67-billion-baht project to build the 396 police stations.
Their construction was endorsed by the cabinet during the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration, in which Mr Suthep served as his deputy.
Mr Suthep was accused of not consulting fellow ministers regarding changes to the project. Many of the stations were left unfinished when PCC Development & Construction, the sole contractor, allegedly abandoned the project.
In the lawsuit, Mr Suthep said Tarit's remarks were groundless and had damaged his reputation.
On March 26, 2015, the Criminal Court acquitted Tarit. The court ruled in his capacity as DSI chief, he was entitled to speak to the media and examine possible irregularities in the public project.
The Appeal Court in May 2016 upheld the lower court's ruling.
It said the evidence against the defendant was not convincing, prompting Mr Suthep to go to the Supreme Court.
Early this week, Tarit issued a public apology to Mr Suthep, reversed his plea to guilty, and offered 100,000 baht by means of settlement. Mr Suthep refused to forgive him.
Tarit had previously asked former attorney-general Kanit na Nakhon to mediate in the dispute.
He said he was surprised by Mr Suthep's "cold" response to his offer.
Tarit insisted that it was Mr Suthep who had asked him to issue a public apology to end the dispute.
Tarit, 60, was taken to Bangkok Remand Prison after the verdict was read out yesterday morning.
Meanwhile, the Criminal Court acquitted key Pheu Thai member Watana Muangsook yesterday in a suit over his remarks about a missing plaque at the Royal Plaza. The plaque had been put there to mark the 1932 Siamese Revolution.
Prosecutors accused the former social development and human security minister of instigating sedition in violation of the Criminal Code's Section 116, and posting false information in breach of the Computer Crime Act.
The charges were brought after he used his Facebook account to criticise the disappearance of the memorial plaque on April 17, 2017.
The court ruled that Mr Watana had merely been exercising his right to express his opinion and that his criticisms of state authorities appeared to be genuine. Freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution, police said.
The firebrand politician last year wrote what he called an "academic opinion" on his Facebook page saying the plaque was an ancient object protected by the 1961 Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art and National Museums.
The government should have done more to preserve and recover it, he said.
