Ombudsman Defends Kasit, Natthawut Rulings

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Ombudsman defends Kasit, Natthawut rulings

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- The Office of the Ombudsman did not have double standards in connection with its two rulings on the political ethics code, spokesman Raksagecha Chaechai said yesterday.

The two rulings involve former foreign minister Kasit Piromya and Deputy Agriculture Minister Natthawut Saikua.

Kasit and Natthawut both face terrorism charges stemming from politically violent incidents in 2008 and 2010 respectively.

Raksagecha said the Kasit case came to light when the Abhisit Vejjajiva government named him in the Cabinet line-up.

At the time of Kasit's ministerial appointment, the police were still investigating his involvement in street protests led by the People's Alliance for Democracy. The legal proceedings had not reached the prosecution stage and Kasit had not been indicted.

The then chief ombudsman Teeradej Meepien ruled to dismiss the case citing the lack of evidence to indict Kasit.

In the Natthawut case, the ombudsman questioned compliance with the ethical code because of his indictment in three separate cases, which are at various stages of prosecution and judicial review.

The ombudsman was of the opinion that Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra should have factored in Natthawut's legal wrangling before finalising the appointment. In her written rebuttals, the prime minister conceded she did not review the legal issues involving Natthawut.

Regarding confusion about complaints filed in the two cases, the spokesman said initial checks on the database did not locate any complaints on the Natthawut case but the flawed database had been rectified by the repeat search of documents kept in the archive.

Confusion followed because in an earlier statement, the ombudsman relied on the flawed checks to cite the absence of complaints filed in the Kasit case as reason why it dealt with Natthawut and not Kasit.

The fact is the ombudsman ruled on both cases. And the rulings were different due to two sets of circumstances.

The ombudsman has already launched a fact-finding probe into the flawed checks.

-- The Nation 2012-06-28