<p>The Supreme Court has acquitted Abhisit and Suthep of murder charges for authorising the violent military crackdown on anti-establishment red-shirt protesters in April and May 2010. Meanwhile, a former government investigator who dared to accuse the two of murder is now facing lawsuits. </p>
<p>On 31 August 2017, the Supreme Court confirmed a previous ruling by the Court of Appeal and dismissed murder charges against former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, and Suthep Thaugsuban, his former deputy.</p>
<p>A well-known anti-corruption activist has called on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to probe a Deputy Prime Minister and the national police chief over the flight of fugitive former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.</p>
<p dir="ltr">On 25 August 2017, the Supreme Court will deliver its verdict on the historic case of former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who stands accused of causing billions of baht in losses through her administration’s controversial rice-pledging scheme (RPS). Prachatai has gathered 10 important facts about the historic case, which will set a standard for future public policy and almost certainly deepen political divisions regardless of the outcome.</p>
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<p>A political activist has called on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to re-investigate those responsible for the bloody military crackdown in 2010. </p>
<p>On 7 August 2017, Waranchai Chokchana, a former independent candidate for Bangkok governor, submitted a petition to the NACC to appeal its ruling on the military crackdown on anti-establishment red-shirt protesters in 2010.</p>
<p>The petition, submitted in the name of a political group called Democracy Force, calls on the NACC to submit an appeal to the Supreme Court to try the case.</p>
<p><em>Key points of former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s closing statement on rice-pledging scheme case delivered to the Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on 1 Aug 2017. The key points of the statement, both in Thai and English, were sent to the media by Ms Yingluck’s lawyers team.</em></p>
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<p><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4300/35910856570_79f95f15e8_o.jpg" /></p>
<p>Thailand’s junta-appointed parliament has passed a bill that will install a committee tasked with ensuring that future governments adhere to the National Council for Peace and Order’s (NCPO) strategic plans for the next twenty years. Governments which fail to bring to life the NCPO’s wishes will face prosecution by the National Anti-Corruption Commission.</p>
<p dir="ltr">The Supreme Court has accepted a lawsuit against a former government investigator who dared to accuse Abhisit and Suthep of murder for ordering the bloody military crackdown on anti-establishment red-shirt protesters in 2010.</p>
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<div>A global report has ranked Thailand’s perceived level of corruption at 101st out of 176 countries, due to its undemocratic political climate and pervasive corruption. </div>
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<div>Though the junta has set the elimination of corruption as a policy priority, Thailand’s ranking has slipped down Transparency International’s <a href="https://www.transparency.org/news/feature/corruption_perceptions_index_2016">Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) 2016</a> from joint 76th in 2015 to joint 101st. Its score also dropped from 38 out of 100, to 35.
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<div>Thailand’s National Anti-Corruption Commission has refused to award its annual transparency award, saying none of the nominated organisations satisfied its criteria for good governance.</div>
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<div>While 11 organisations were highly commended, no organisations received the rating of ‘excellent’ required to win the award, according to the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s (NAC) website.</div>
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<div>This is the first year no organisation has won the award, which is in its sixth year.
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<p>The Chair of the Department of Public Prosecutor Commission (DPPC) has removed the Deputy Director-General of the DPPC after he supported a call to investigate corruption allegations against the junta leader’s brother.</p>
<p>A political activist has asked the Thai authorities to probe the construction in northern Thailand of a dike named after a sister-in-law of the Thai junta leader. Meanwhile, a company where her son is a share-holder reportedly won two construction projects from the Thai Army.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After a lengthy probe into the royal monument park corruption scandal, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) concluded no trace of corruption was found in the construction overseen by the Thai army.</p>
<p>On 7 September 2016, Pol Gen Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit, the NACC chairman, announced that the NACC investigation committee had found no evidence of corruption in the procurement procedure for the construction of Rajabhakti Park.</p>