NARATHIWAT (Southern Thailand): The Thai Parliament has not yet received a request from any of its members to discuss the issue of a Member of Parliament (MP) who has been ordered to give a criminal defense testimony in court regarding the Tak Bai Massacre.
Thai Parliament Speaker, Wan Muhamad Noor Matha, said that the Parliament needs to discuss whether to allow General Pisan Wattanawongkiri, 74 years old, to be arrested and sued or not.
He stated that if an MP is required to testify as a defendant in a criminal case while Parliament is in session, the Speaker must first include it in the discussion agenda.
“The proposal must follow the meeting agenda. By coincidence, I have not received any proposals yet… It must follow the Thai Constitution and the Parliament’s rules,” he said.
He made this statement in response to questions raised by MP Kamonsak Leewamoh from Narathiwat (District 5) in the Parliament yesterday.
Previously, Kamonsak, also known as Wan Johan among the Southern Thai residents, requested that the Speaker and Parliament consider expediting the discussion on this matter as the case’s deadline is approaching.
“This case is different from others… because it will expire on October 25… and this matter is not within the power of the individual legislator alone.
“It is a matter for the entire Parliament to decide whether to use privileges to protect the member.
“And it also depends on the sanity of the accused. In the Tak Bai case, the accused can go to court to prove his innocence,” he said.
The Parliament only meets on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Therefore, if you have common sense, you can go to court on other days to prove your innocence, he added.
He understands the privileges that each MP has but reminds everyone that the 20-year statute of limitations for the Tak Bai case will expire on October 25.
Last Friday (September 12), the Narathiwat Provincial Court issued a letter to the Speaker of Parliament requesting permission to arrest General Pisan—who is also the first defendant—due to his failure to appear in court.
The letter also asked the Speaker to issue a statement lifting the immunity of the MP—who at the time was serving as the Commander of the Fourth Army Region responsible for Southern Thailand—to attend the court hearing on October 15.
Among the privileges in the Thai Constitution for MPs are:
“During the session, no member of the House of Representatives or Senate can be arrested, detained, or summoned for investigation as a suspect in a criminal case unless permitted by the House they are a member of.”
On August 23, 2024, the Narathiwat Provincial Court decided that there was criminal misconduct by Thai government officials in the tragedy that resulted in 78 deaths from suffocation while in detention and eight more deaths from gunfire when authorities tried to disperse the protests.
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