Activist Sirawit Serithiwat was indicted on Monday (18 November) on a charge of defamation by publication for a speech given at a protest in March 2019 demanding impeachment of the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) for mishandling the 2019 general election. The indictment came 5 years after the charge was filed.

In April 2019, Pinit Chanchai, then Election Commissioner, filed a complaint against Sirawit, activist Parit Chiwarak, and Phayao Akhad, the mother of volunteer nurse Kamonked Akhad who was killed at Wat Pathum Wanaram during the 19 May 2010 crackdown on the Red Shirt protest. The complaint stemmed from a protest at the skywalk around the Victory Monument on 21 March 2019, which was part of a campaign to collect 1 million signatures to impeach the ECT for its failure to produce reliable election results.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the police at Phaya Thai Police Station forwarded the case file to the public prosecutor in August 2019 and requested indictment. However, the public prosecutor postponed the indictment several times, and by the beginning of 2020, Sirawit, Parit, and Phayao were no longer required to report to the public prosecutor.

Sirawit was asked to report to the public prosecutor again at the beginning of 2024, but the appointment was postponed again 4 times before he was finally indicted on Monday. The public prosecutor said that the appointment was postponed because the police had not submitted all the evidence in the case. Parit and Phayao have not been asked to report.

The public prosecutor ruled to indict Sirawit on the ground that Sirawit read out a statement accusing the ECT of corruption, lack of transparency and impartiality, and failing to do its job. The indictment said that these accusations were false and defamatory towards the ECT.

The 24 March 2019 General Election led to criticisms against the ECT of mismanagement and possible election fraud. Overseas voters faced difficulties casting their votes, from long waiting times at the poll to ballots not arriving in the mail and candidates being listed under the wrong party on documents. Ballots from New Zealand did not arrive in time to be counted. Meanwhile, several irregularities were reported during the day of the election and after, from there being more votes than voters in one constituency and irregularities in the lists of eligible voters to uncertainties about the ECT’s calculation of party-list seats.