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The former leader of the disbanded Future Forward Party, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, was indicted for lese-majeste and computer crimes, his lawyer said on Monday.
“Today, the public prosecutor brought him to the court at noon and we are waiting for the order on his bail request,” Krisadang Nutcharat told reporters.
The plaintiff in the latest case facing Thanathorn is Apiwat Khanthong, chairman of the government-appointed committee. Apiwat has been tasked to investigate the spread of disinformation.
The public prosecutor decided to formally charge Thanathorn on Monday, and the bail request was made with a surety of 90,000 baht, Krisadang said.
The police charged Thanathorn in 2020 for alleged violations of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or lese-majeste law, the Computer Crime Act and the defamation law.
The authorities said he insulted the royal institution when he questioned the government’s Covid-19 vaccine policy and the role of Siam Bioscience Group (SBS), a company owned by the Crown Property Bureau, during a Facebook Live session on January 18, 2020.
SBS was picked as the sole producer of AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, the country’s main vaccine against the virus. Thanathorn questioned why the government initially bet on the local production of just one Covid vaccine instead of bringing in a variety of vaccines, a policy that was later adopted by the government.
Thanathorn has come under fire from the state in earlier years as well. Future Forward made a strong run in the 2018 general election, but Thanathorn was accused of breaking election-funding laws over a 191 million baht (US$6 million) loan the party received from him.
The election commission then moved to dissolve the party and ban the opposition leader from politics for ten years. Despite the resistance, he went on to co-found the Progressive Movement.
Thanathorn is still waiting for bail at the time of writing.