In a rare ruling, on Thursday the Criminal Court acquitted firebrand and former-singer Tom Dundee in a lese majeste case. He actually pleaded guilty, but in a legal paradox that is as baffling as it is mitigating, the court said it could not rule against the defendant despite his guilty plea since the prosecution failed to provide substantial evidence.
The verdict, however, is just a sliver of good news for him: Thanat "Tom Dundee" Thanawatcharanond, 59, was slapped with four lese majeste charges based on his speeches at several red-shirt rallies in 2013. He was sentenced to three years and four months in one case, and seven and a half years in another. The acquittal came in the third case, and he has the fourth pending in a trial set for next month. Tom, who studied in France on a scholarship, is still in prison and is likely to languish there for years to come.
What made me think of Tom -- who'd have been better off had he been born 200 years ago as a restless Jacobin haunting the streets of Paris -- isn't just his acquittal. In fact it was the Carabao Cup final last month in which Manchester City won 3-0 over Arsenal (poor Arsenal!).
