The prime minister has issued a stern warning to supporters of former premier Yingluck Shinawatra who turn up at the Supreme Court Friday for the final round of defence witness hearings in the rice-pledging case not to stir up unrest.
"I always said so. But why you haven't quoted me as saying that? You only reported who would come to protest or rally and kept asking if the government would invoke any laws to deal with them. That will only create more conflicts," said Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha when asked if he had given any special orders to security officials to deal with Ms Yingluck's supporters at the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions.
"You [the media], too, should tell them [Ms Yingluck's supporters] to refrain from coming to the court in person if they don't really have to, as they can still monitor media coverage of the hearings [elsewhere]," the prime minister said.
Ex-premier Yingluck Shinawatra has had crowds of sympathisers at every hearing of her two-year trial at the Supreme Court, but the regime predicts there will be more than usual on Friday. (Bangkok Post file photo)
His deputy, Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, who is also defence minister, said if the ex-premier's supporters want to go to the court they may do so but they should limit their numbers.
Ms Yingluck has been charged with dereliction of duty for failing to stop corruption and irregularities stemming from her government's rice-pledging scheme, which resulted in more than 500 billion baht in damages.
Reuters video reports that Thai farmers worry for their livelihood as the Yingluck trial winds down.
Thai farmers worry for livelihood as Yingluck trial winds down: https://t.co/UDueMojfgk Via @ReutersTV pic.twitter.com/D5Tn9Z3LFz
— Reuters Top News (@Reuters) July 18, 2017
Watana Muangsook, a former commerce minister and a key figure in the Pheu Thai Party, said a huge number of people will gather at the court to offer Ms Yingluck moral support because she had been their elected prime minister.
He also criticised Gen Prayut and Gen Prawit, accusing them of restricting the rights and freedom of the people by warning them against turning up at the court.
"Not only did Gen Prayut and Gen Prawit show an attitude of not respecting the rights and freedom of members of the public, but they also expressed their lack of willingness to promote democracy. They still don't respect the constitution that they had drafted," he said.
In her latest move, Ms Yingluck on July 7 asked the court to rule whether the proceedings of her case based on the 1999 law on the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions contradict Section 235 of the 2017 charter.
Her petition seeking the ruling was lodged with the court division which reportedly accepted it for consideration and will make a ruling Friday.
Ms Yingluck's legal team has insisted that her petition seeking the Constitutional Court's intervention was not an attempt to stall legal proceedings in the rice case.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam, in charge of the government's legal affairs, said Ms Yingluck has every right to petition the Supreme Court, but the decision on whether to approve her request rests entirely with the court.
If the court agrees to seek the Constitutional Court's interpretation, witness hearings will proceed and the Supreme Court will not be able to hand down any ruling in the rice case as it must wait for the charter court's opinions, he said.
Asked if that will stall the court proceedings, he said that was the way things were and since the purpose of allowing the defendant to submit the petition is to ensure her rights, no one should be blamed for causing any delays in the case.
Norawich Lalaeng, Ms Yingluck's lawyer, said the last eight defence witnesses who are scheduled to testify Friday are former civil servants and academics.
At this point, the legal team has no plan to ask for additional witness hearings and will decide after all witnesses have finished giving testimony if it is necessary to request more hearings, he said.
Army chief Chalermchai Sitthisad in his capacity as secretary-general of the National Council for Peace and Order was optimistic that not many people would turn up at the court.
"I believe in the maturity of those who show up to give moral support [to Ms Yingluck]", he said, adding that police have in place measures to ensure security and deal with the traffic.
He said he expected no more than 300 and 500 sympathisers will be at the court.
