Pongthep to front TRT's defence team
Thai Rak Thai Party deputy leader Pongthep Thepkanchana has been chosen as the lead lawyer for the case in which it has been accused of bankrolling smaller parties to contest the April 2 general election.
Pongthep was a Constitution drafter and judge before entering politics with the now-defunct Palang Dhamma Party. Vichit Plangsrikul, a Thai Rak Thai legal expert, said that the party expects to receive a writ several thousand pages long next week in response to a request by the Attorney-General's Office (OAG) to the Constitution Court seeking to dissolve the party. The party had earlier planned to use Vichai Thongtaeng, who led caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's defence in his asset-concealment case. Vichit, however, said Vichai was fully occupied with other matters and the party had not contacted him to help with the case. Vichai said he had just returned from overseas and had not been contacted to provide legal assistance to the party and had not been following the case. A source from the OAG said Seksan Bangsomun, a director-general with the OAG, would be the chief prosecutor in the case seeking to dissolve the Thai Rak Thai, Democrat, Thai Ground, Pattana Chartthai and Progressive Democratic parties.
Samatcha Hoonsara The Nation
|
