The leader of the Seri Ruam Thai party has accused the junta of foul play after it filed a computer crime complaint against him on Friday for comments he made five months ago.
Party leader Pol Gen Sereepisuth Temiyavej told VoiceTV on June 24 the constitution writing, passage of organic laws and NCPO orders were fraudulent and paved the way for power succession.
He told Thai media on Saturday soldiers had “sneaked up” to file a complaint against him on Friday afternoon involving the comments.
The 70-year-old former police chief claimed the NCPO then pressured police to seek the warrant for his arrest on the same day.
Since the courts do not work on Saturday and Sunday, they reckoned he would end up spending the weekend in a detention cell because he would not have time to apply for bail.
“They did so even though the case doesn’t involve national security and the alleged crime was committed five months ago.
“The court, however, did not approve the request. After all, I didn’t kill anyone. I didn’t deal drugs or commit adultery. I simply talked about democracy,” he argued.
NCPO spokesman Winthai Tiwaree on Saturday denied any wrongdoing, saying the NCPO had done everything by the book as soon as it learned about allegedly libellous comments.
“We didn’t sneak in. We walked normally to file the complaint. When we learn anyone gives false information, we report to police, which is a normal procedure. And soldiers did not pressure police. We all simply do our respective duties.”
He pointed out the NCPO had done the same to other politicians “if they broke the laws”.
The outspoken Pol Gen Sereepisuth has made his anti-coup stance clear and some of his policies have resonated with a lot of people, especially those on military reform and military draft.
He ranked fifth as the politician people would like to see as prime minister in the Nov 25 Nida Poll, with 6.9% popularity.
