Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has pleaded not guilty to a royal defamation charge filed against him for an interview with a South Korean news outlet in 2015, while his lawyer said that the video clip used as evidence was not the original.

Thaksin appeared at the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court on Monday morning (19 August) to attend a witness examination hearing. He told reporters that he was not worried. When asked why he was wearing a yellow shirt, he said that “it is already clear” and stopped to pay respect to a portrait of the King before going into court.

Thaksin’s lawyer Winyat Chartmontree said after the hearing that Thaksin pleaded not guilty to the charges. He presented an evidence list to the court, which included 14 witnesses and other document evidence.

Winyat said that the prosecution presented 10 witnesses. He believed that they have already been questioned and that the prosecution did not call for additional witnesses, possibly because they are not beneficial to the trial or because they cannot contribute to proving the defendant’s guilt. Expert witnesses will also be summoned to check the electronic data of the video clip.

He said that the clip used as a basis for the complaint against Thaksin is not the original copy but rather was taken from a CD containing material downloaded from the internet. An officer who inspected the clip also said that it cannot be determined where the clip came from, whether it had been edited, and that the Thai translation was incomplete. Only one term in English in the clip is problematic, Winyat said - the very the one which led to the accusation against Thaksin.

Winyat added, that he did not want to disclose more information about how they intend to fight the charges based on the issues with the video clip.

Thaksin was indicted for royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act on 29 May over his 2015 interview given to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Iibo. In the interview, he claimed that privy councillors supported the 2014 coup, which ousted the government of his sister Yingluck Shinawatra.

Witness examination hearings have been scheduled for July 2025. Winyat said that Thaksin is ready to attend every court hearing to prove that he is loyal to the throne and did not defame the monarchy.