Activist-turned-Move Forward Party MP Piyarat Chongthep has filed a request with the Kalasin Provincial Court calling for the repeal of a 1 July court order ending witness examination in a royal defamation trial against him on the grounds that the order makes the trial unlawful. He also requested that the court re-schedule the hearing.

Piyarat Chongthep (centre) in September 2023 (File photo)

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that, on 1 July, the Kalasin Provincial Court ordered an end to defence witness examination in the royal defamation trial against Piyarat and scheduled the verdict reading for 11 October. This order came after the Court refused to postpone the remaining witness examination hearing scheduled for 1 – 2 July, which took place while Piyarat was visiting Poland with the House of Representatives Standing Committee on National Security, Border Affairs, National Strategy, and National Reform.

The trip was rescheduled to 24 June – 2 July because an extraordinary session was called for parliament to debate the 2025 budget bill. The Court said that it believes Piyarat was trying to stall the trial, since the witness examination hearings were postponed from 11 April to 1 – 2 July because Piyarat’s lawyer is representing another client in Chiang Mai, and documents submitted along with the request did not show that Piyarat opposed to the trip’s rescheduling even though he was aware of the new hearing dates.

Piyarat previously requested to postpone the defence witness examination hearings 5 times, 4 times because parliament was in session and once because his lawyer was representing another client in a hearing. He said that he has never asked to postpone a hearing unless absolutely necessary. He said that members of the Committee voted to re-schedule the trip, which requires coordination with the House Speaker for a budget and with Polish government agencies. Once a list of participants has been approved, it cannot be changed, he said, and anyone who cancelled would be held responsible for the expenses. They would also have to file for budget approval again, which Piyarat said would not be possible within the time frame.

TLHR noted that a senior judge in the Kalasin Provincial Court and a presiding judge in the Region 4 Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases were participating in the hearing when Piyarat’s lawyer requested the postponement even though they were not among the panel of judges responsible for Piyarat’s trial.

On Monday (8 July), Piyarat filed a request with the Kalasin Provinical Court to have the order ending witness examination repealed and for the court to re-schedule the hearings on the grounds that the procedure and order were unlawful under the Law for the Organization of the Courts of Justice and the Criminal Procedure Code since they made the trial unfair.

Piyarat wrote in the request that the Court is obligated to allow both parties to present evidence and defend themselves under the principle of bilateral hearing. He wrote that not allowing him to present defence witnesses makes the trial unfair, since he is not being allowed to defend himself. This would mean that the public would question and criticize the court, no matter how it ruled on the case.

He wrote that he is not trying to stall the proceedings, but is obligated to attend parliamentary sessions and participate in any trip or meeting required by the committees of which he is a member. He noted that members of parliament have immunity while parliament is in session, and that he filed documents with each postponement request proving that he has to attend a parliamentary meeting. He also wrote that the Poland trip schedule would not be changed even if he had expressed his opposition because the dates were approved with a vote among the working group, and it would damage his work if he did not participate in the trip. The prosecution also did not oppose having the hearings postponed, so there should be no reason to rush the proceedings to the point of cancelling examination of the remaining defence witnesses.

Piyarat raised concerns that judges on the panel might not be making their decision to cancel remaining witness examination independently, since Sarawut Yongchaiyudh, Presiding Judge in the Region 4 Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases, sat in on the 1 July hearing although he is not part of the panel or a judge in the Kalasin Provincial Court.

Piyarat was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for allegedly putting up signs in January 2021 criticising the government’s Covid-19 vaccine procurement scheme and posting pictures of the signs on his Facebook page and the Twitter account for the protest guard group We Volunteer.