Thaksin indicted on charge of royal defamation as more court cases stir Thailand’s political woes

BANGKOK (AP) — Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was formally indicted Tuesday on a charge of defaming Thailand’s monarchy in one of several court cases that have unsteadied Thai politics.

Thaksin, an influential political figure despite being ousted from power 18 years ago, reported himself to prosecutors just before 9 a.m. and the indictment process has been completed, Prayuth Bejraguna, a spokesperson for the Office of the Attorney General, said at a news conference.

A car believed to be carrying Thaksin arrived at the Criminal Court in Bangkok but he did not come out to meet reporters, and it is unclear whether he went to the court or the nearby prosecutors’ office.

His lawyer Winyat Chatmontree told reporters that Thaksin was ready to enter the judicial process and that he has prepared a request for his release on bail.

The law on defaming the monarchy, an offense known as lese majeste, is punishable by three to 15 years in prison. It is among the harshest such laws globally and increasing has been used in Thailand to punish government critics.

Thaksin, now 74, was ousted by an army coup in 2006 that set off years of deep political polarization. His opponents, who were generally staunch royalists, had accused him of corruption, abuse of power and disrespecting then-King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who died in 2016.

He was originally charged with lese majeste in 2016 for remarks he made a year earlier to journalists in South Korea. The case was not pursued at that time because he went into exile in 2008 to avoid punishment from other legal judgments he decried as political.

He voluntarily returned to Thailand last year and was immediately taken into custody for convictions related to corruption and abuse of power, but