House to finally debate amnesty for lese majeste cases

A controversial report on whether offences under the lese majeste law should be eligible for amnesty is finally set for a debate in parliament this week after two previous delays, according to the House panel in charge of the study.
The report, which contains a proposal for the amnesty of political offenders, is up for debate on Thursday, said Sasinan Thammanithinan, a Bangkok MP for the People’s Party and committee spokeswoman.
The committee is chaired by Chusak Sirinil, the PM’s Office minister.
Ms Sasinan said the repeated delays, on Sept 26, on Oct 3 and again on Oct 10, were caused by disagreement among coalition parties over extending the amnesty to cover violators of Section 112 of the Criminal Code — the lese majeste law.
The parties in question are Bhumjaithai, United Thai Nation and the Democrats.
Dr Cherdchai Tantisirin, a Pheu Thai Party list MP and study committee member, said they had drafted much of the content of the amnesty bills to be proposed by several parties.
The bills have yet to be filed in parliament as lawmakers must first debate the committee’s findings, said Dr Cherdchai, adding that this is the first amnesty for which Section 112 offences have been considered.
The Chusak committee has discussed three options: offering amnesty to Section 112 offenders, not offering amnesty to lese majeste offenders, and offering conditional amnesty.
He said the panel had looked particularly closely at denying amnesty to lese majeste offences of a deliberate nature but possibly granting amnesty to those who broke Section 112 without intending to insult the monarchy.
Meanwhile, Jurin Laksanawisit, Democrat Party list MP and former party leader, said on Monday the study was heavily divisive and a likely legal quagmire.
“If parliament allows the committee’s findings to stand, a hot potato will land in the government’s lap,” he said.