Thai DPM insists on seeking justice for Thaksin

BANGKOK, November 23 (TNA) - Deputy Prime Minister Police Captain Chalerm Yubumrung has insisted on seeking justice for exiled ex-Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra but the move has nothing to do with the government’s plan to soon issue a royal pardon decree for general convicts. Chalerm said that the planned royal decree is legitimate, complied with the rule of justice and will not benefit any individual in particular. Chalerm acknowledged that he would seek justice for Thaksin, through a bill, because legal prosecution against Thaksin resulted from a coup, not from the rule of laws and he would keep his promise to bring Thaksin back to Thailand. The deputy prime minister noted that he has agreed with a recent proposal of General Sonthi Boonyaratkalin, who headed the military coup to topple the six-year Thaksin administration in 2006 but now heads a special House committee on national reconciliation, that pardons should cover yellow-shirt and red-shirt demonstrators, as well as government officials and soldiers involved in incidents after the September 19, 2006 coup. However, Chalerm said that his movement on the issue would wait for a recommendation of the Truth for Reconciliation Commission and would benefit all parties without any opposition, dismissing the possibility that Thaksin would return to Thailand late this year. (TNA)