Cartoonist summoned over PM defamation case next month
By English News



BANGKOK, May 22 - Police on Tuesday issued a summons for influential daily newspaper cartoonist to acknowledge charges next month following his recent Facebook comment which landed him a defamation lawsuit filed by the prime minister.

The police action came afer a lawyer authorised by the prime minister filed a defamation lawsuit against Chai Rachawat, the professional name of Somchai Katanyutanan, after he posted comments on his Facebook page criticising the premier on her recent speech at a political forum in Mongolia early this month.

Deputy Metropolitan Police commander Pol Maj Gen Anuchai Lekbamrung said initial investigation as well as opinions from legal, linguistic and academic experts concluded that there are sufficient grounds to press charges against the cartoonist.

Chai Rachawat is summoned for June 5 to hear the charges which Gen Anuchai said cannot be revealed now pending further discussions among the police investigation team. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2013-05-22

This situation makes Yingluck look so insecure with this pretty obvious attempt to muzzle criticism.

I am working my ass off and they call me naughty names

How dare they say that..............

She is the leader of Thailand not some cheap tart..

[...] opinions from legal, linguistic and academic experts [...]

Amazing that "experts" were willing to participate in this preposterous charade.

Regardless of the person the cartoon was aimed at , on a score 9/10 , I would rate the cartoon zero.

I saw the animated version with the "boinnnnnnng" sounds and couldn't stop laughing.

Regardless of the person the cartoon was aimed at , on a score 9/10 , I would rate the cartoon zero.

Very fitting, since there was no cartoon.

[...] opinions from legal, linguistic and academic experts [...]

Amazing that "experts" were willing to participate in this preposterous charade.

Getting more and more like a dictatorship with no one willing to oppose the powers that be or decline any " invitation " they make.

Good grief has someone made fun of Thaksin again??

Good grief has someone made fun of Thaksin again??

No ... Someone has made fun of his puppet.

She's a public figure in the limelight...subject to criticism, and accepted that upon being PM. If you can't take the heat, get your mulberrys off the street.

We have been talking about double standards towards protests but double standards are everywhere in PTP actions. Plod calls protesters in Chiang Mai " garbage " and Yingluck said she would ask him about it but a poor excuse for a cartoon sees lawyers instructed to file defamation charges and the BIB bring in all sorts of " experts " to prove the cartoonist meant what he said.

Real Democracy in Thailand, only if you are Red Shirt

Sue away, it's exactly as her opponents want it, set her up to look like some authoritarian, silencing all critics, even parodies. The thing will be laughed out of court but along the way will drag on and leave a publicity trail of slime behind it. With the heat cranking up, and her opponents increasingly putting her on the spot over Thaksin, she needs this like a hole in the head.

The real idiocy is that Yingluck was not named in the Facebook posting by the cartoonist.

She must have a guilty conscience over her party political speech in Ulaan Bator.

I wonder how the police 'linguistic experts' will frame (sic) the case.

Nothing will happen. The Shins are not going to make the same mistake twice. Emotions have stlled and business as usual.

Shrug it off, Khun Yingluck. Suing a cartoonist for ANY reason makes you look petty and stupid, and gives more ammunition to your foes. This should get laughed out of court.

How dare they say that..............

Yingluck and Obama (1).jpg She is the leader of Thailand not some cheap tart..

in this instance, an expensive tart

I'll be happy if he apologises to prostitutes country-wide:)

How dare they say that..............

Yingluck and Obama (1).jpg She is the leader of Thailand not some cheap tart..

A vibrant civil society can only exist when individual organisations can work without fear or concern

Shrug it off, Khun Yingluck. Suing a cartoonist for ANY reason makes you look petty and stupid, and gives more ammunition to your foes. This should get laughed out of court.

The scary thing is, it probably won't. Thai defamation law sucks.