The provincial court in southern Thailand has acquitted anti-election protesters accused of preventing 2014 election, ruling that all witnesses were defendants’ political oppositions.
On Thursday, 24 March 2016, Matichon Online reported that the Provincial Court of the southern province of Nakhon Si Thammarat dismissed charges against Chaichana Detchdecho, Katha Rungrojrattakun and Ketkamol Udnoonkan.
The three defendants are local leaders of People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), anti-election protest, who allegedly barricaded a station set up to recruit candidates of the 2014 general election of Nakhon Si Thammarat, on 28 December 2013.
Nakhon Si Thammarat prosecutors indicted them for preventing the election process.
The court ruled that when the defendants were charged the political environment in Thailand was very divisive and all the plaintiff's witnesses were defendants’ political oppositions. Therefore, the evidences were weak, reported Matichon Online.
On 28, December 2013. The defendants, together with PDRC protesters, barricaded Nakhon Si Thammarat candidate recruitment office. The protest prevented the local Election Commission from recruiting representatives candidate. As a result, nine Nakhon Si Thammarat constituencies could not run for the general election on 2 February 2014.
Nakhon Si Thammarat was one of the five provinces which were unable to recruit any representatives candidate in the election 2014 due to the anti-election protests.
The absence of candidates in those constituencies led to the Constitutional Court’s verdict, on 21 March 2014, to invalidate the election. The Constitutional Court ruled then that the election needs to be done on the same day across the country.
(PDRC protesters haning a banner reads "We support reform before election" in front of Nakhon Si Thammarat candidate recruitment office, on 28 December 2013, source: Thairath)