The Criminal Court yesterday sentenced red-shirt co-leader Jatuporn Prompan to six months in jail, suspended for two years, and fined him 50,000 baht for defaming Democrat Party leader and former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.
The suit concerned remarks he made about military operations against red-shirt protesters in 2010.
But the court dismissed another defamation case brought by Mr Abhisit against Mr Jatuporn, who said Mr Abhisit attempted to evade compulsory military conscription.
In the suit filed by Mr Abhisit on March 15, 2010, Mr Jatuporn, a former Pheu Thai Party list-MP, was accused of making speeches to red-shirt supporters between Jan 29-Feb 15, 2010 in which he accused the plaintiff, then prime minister, of ordering soldiers to kill people and of evading conscription.
After considering evidence submitted by both sides, the court said Mr Jatuporn might be aware that his rally speech on Jan 29, 2010 accusing Mr Abhisit of evading conscription was defamatory as it would affect the plaintiff's dignity.
However, the plaintiff had not shown a Sor Dor 41 document to prove he obtained a waiver from military duty, the court said.
The document must be signed by the interior minister or a provincial governor.
The court cast doubt on the authenticity of the documents concerning Mr Abhisit's army reserve status.
The plaintiff had no document to back his remark that he never used fake documents to apply for a government job, the court said.
The court found Mr Jatuporn, who was an opposition MP at the time, had the right to make an honest comment about the plaintiff.
The court ruled the defendant not guilty of defaming the plaintiff.
But the court found Mr Jatuporn's rally speech on Feb 15, 2010 in which he said Mr Abhisit had called a meeting of security forces to plot a crackdown on red-shirt protesters, might make red-shirt followers think Mr Abhisit was cruel.
The court found Mr Jatuporn did not make an honest comment and his speech was aimed at provoking hatred against the plaintiff.
Mr Jatuporn's jail term was suspended for two years on the grounds that he had not served any jail term before.
He has been ordered to publish the court's ruling in the Matichon and Daily News daily newspapers for seven days.
Mr Abhisit's lawyer Bundit Siriphan said the court's ruling showed his client had neither evaded military conscription nor used fake documents, as the court only found some documents were suspicious.