No amnesty for wrongdoers

[chooka]

Sounds like a plea bargain, not an amnesty.

correct

A plea bargain by whom? Uncle Too won't talk to opposition and has laid down his rules for his country. Uncle Too knows what he wants and has set up reforms and legislation to ensure he gets what he wants. He is holding the country by the balls and if you squeal he will squeese tighter and tighter until your attitude towards your balls changes. Edited February 21, 2015 by chooka

[metisdead]

Please use discretion in your references to the government. Phrases which can be considered as anti-coup will be removed.

[Alwyn]

What a bunch of contradictions, so many in one article! "No amnesty for wrongdoers" means no amnesty then, right? As amnesty would only be needed for people who have done some wrong (in the eyes of the beholder at least) at some point.

"CHARTER DRAFTERS resolved yesterday that no amnesty will be granted to wrongdoers involved in political conflicts over recent years and yet the junta has just written the exact opposite clause giving amnesty to the NCPO forever. So they have basically written it so Yingluck and everybody else can NOT have an amnesty and be can arrested to face any music this Junta (and their sponsors) can think up but the general and his cohorts are exempt - forever! I wonder what they think the international community will think of this Mickey Mouse piece of work?

- but pardons would be offered if people admit doing wrong and accept some punishment". That's not a 'pardon' is it? That's admitting to something and knowing you will be punished, plea bargaining maybe but I guess that depends on the punishment on offer but it's not a pardon!

But the best one (I'm leaving the best til last) has got to be "The drafters reasoned that reconciliation is highly sensitive and allowing the media to observe could have make drafters feel uncomfortable and obstruct them from freely expressing their thoughts" I think what they mean is "obstruct the media from freely expressing their thoughts and ridicule"

Mind you I think it's fantastic they're turning to South Africa for inspiration..... The country where blacks go around murdering white farmers and stealing their farms with complete immunity

[rubl]

What a bunch of contradictions, so many in one article! "No amnesty for wrongdoers" means no amnesty then, right? As amnesty would only be needed for people who have done some wrong (in the eyes of the beholder at least) at some point.

"CHARTER DRAFTERS resolved yesterday that no amnesty will be granted to wrongdoers involved in political conflicts over recent years and yet the junta has just written the exact opposite clause giving amnesty to the NCPO forever. So they have basically written it so Yingluck and everybody else can NOT have an amnesty and be can arrested to face any music this Junta (and their sponsors) can think up but the general and his cohorts are exempt - forever! I wonder what they think the international community will think of this Mickey Mouse piece of work?

- but pardons would be offered if people admit doing wrong and accept some punishment". That's not a 'pardon' is it? That's admitting to something and knowing you will be punished, plea bargaining maybe but I guess that depends on the punishment on offer but it's not a pardon!

But the best one (I'm leaving the best til last) has got to be "The drafters reasoned that reconciliation is highly sensitive and allowing the media to observe could have make drafters feel uncomfortable and obstruct them from freely expressing their thoughts" I think what they mean is "obstruct the media from freely expressing their thoughts and ridicule"

Mind you I think it's fantastic they're turning to South Africa for inspiration..... The country where blacks go around murdering white farmers and stealing their farms with complete immunity

A few posters (somehow all against the junta) have suggested that Thailand look to South Africa as an example for successful reconciliation. Personally I doubt such construction would work, even when we replace a bishop leading things with a Supreme Patriarch or one of the lesser monks.

[3NUMBAS]

the billionaire monk is still on the run

[chooka]

Can anyone tell me if there is a difference in the end result with being given amnesty or being pardoned. Either way they escape punishment and are free to go.

A pardon does not show hypocicy. You an give a pardon and fly under the amnesty banner. Uncle Too has the authority to pardon all that support him

[Smokemachine]

Mr Z: "ok,guys lets refrain from using "amnesty" this word. This word is very sensitive. People hear amnesty, they gonna coming out opposing again. Let's call it a "pardon"

[MaxLee]

No amnesty granted for wrongdoers the rich and influential and their spoilt brats,

Business as usual, as this group will always get a free pass.

Edited February 21, 2015 by MaxLee

[Trouble]

All wrong-doers.

Processed in chronological order (so the courts can't target just their perceived enemies).

Identical processes applied to every case.

Blind justice/neutral judges.

With the above provisos, even the most rabid Yellows/Reds would agree.

We should also expect to see the junta members be punished for violating the law and their wrong doing. Like that is going to happen. One man's wrong doing is another man's doing right? It still boils down to politics.

[SaamBaht]

Can anyone tell me if there is a difference in the end result with being given amnesty or being pardoned. Either way they escape punishment and are free to go.

Yeah, no amnesty, BUT ................Amazing Thailand where few ever get punished for their crimes.

[sscsamui]

No Pardon or amnesty for political law breakers... Period. That is just my view...

[djjamie]

Only corrupt people and other law breakers want amnesty for crimes that do not restore democracy.

No wonder some are so upset about this. They are the same people that are proficient in the use of M79 grenade launchers.

[Fatty123]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The country needs to have a legal system that those in power are answerable to. It needs a legal system that makes it clear to those in power that abuse if power and criminality has consequences. It needs a legal system that applies to all, not just those outside the elite. It needs a legal system that cannot be bribed, corrupted, side stepped, manipulated and avoided.

It doesn't need a reconciliation commission, it needs law and order.

Gaol the guilty.

No amnesties.

No pardons because you admit to being a craven criminal scumbag.

Simply, a justice system that applies to all.

This whole reconciliation committee and its power to pardon appears to be little more than a stealth amnesty.

AND it needs a legal system that cannot be subverted by military coups who immediately grant themselves exemptions from the legal system. There was no basis for NCPO to abolish the 2007 Constitution, even for the sake of "national security," other than to impose its own sense of a rule of law and avoid legal responsibility for its own crimes against the sovereignty of the Thai Peoples.

If Thailand ever gets a legit government, then it needs to put something in the Constitution outlawing military coups (I know, I know) and say that any amnesty/pardon the army/courts may give the military after taking power is illegal and punishable by death.

Cat in hell's chance though.

[chooka]

Only corrupt people and other law breakers want amnesty for crimes that do not restore democracy.

No wonder some are so upset about this. They are the same people that are proficient in the use of M79 grenade launchers.

and the other side call it a pardon, what the difference. Amnesty is a dirty word but a pardon is a beautiful thing.

[billd766]

Only corrupt people and other law breakers want amnesty for crimes that do not restore democracy.

No wonder some are so upset about this. They are the same people that are proficient in the use of M79 grenade launchers.

and the other side call it a pardon, what the difference. Amnesty is a dirty word but a pardon is a beautiful thing.

There is a big difference between a pardon and an amnesty.

From Wikipedia

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pardon

Today, pardons are granted in many countries when individuals have demonstrated that they have fulfilled their debt to society, or are otherwise considered to be deserving. Pardons are sometimes offered to persons who are wrongfully convicted or who claim they have been wrongfully convicted. In some jurisdictions, accepting such a pardon implicitly constitutes an admission of guilt (see Burdick v. United States in the United States), so in some cases the offer is refused. Cases of wrongful conviction are nowadays more often dealt with by appeal than by pardon; however, a pardon is sometimes offered when innocence is undisputed to avoid the costs of a retrial. Clemency plays a very important role when capital punishment is applied.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amnesty

Amnesties, which in the United Kingdom may be granted by the crown or by an act of Parliament, were formerly usual on coronations and similar occasions, but are chiefly exercised towards associations of political criminals, and are sometimes granted absolutely, though more frequently there are certain specified exceptions. Thus, in the case of the earliest recorded amnesty, that of Thrasybulus at Athens, the thirty tyrants and a few others were expressly excluded from its operation; and the amnesty proclaimed on the restoration of Charles II of England did not extend to those who had taken part in the execution of his father. Other famous amnesties include: Napoleon's amnesty of March 13, 1815 from which thirteen eminent persons, including Talleyrand, were exempt; the Prussian amnesty of August 10, 1840; the general amnesty proclaimed by the emperor Franz Josef I of Austria in 1857; the general amnesty granted by President of the United States, Andrew Johnson, after the American Civil War (1861-April 9, 1865), in 1868, and the French amnesty of 1905. Amnesty in U.S. politics in 1872 meant restoring the right to vote and hold office to ex-Confederates, which was achieved by act of Congress.^[2] Those were true amnesties, pardoning past violations without changing the laws violated.

The last act of amnesty passed in Great Britain was that of 1747, which pardoned those who had taken part in the 1745 Jacobite Rising.^{[citation needed]}