Sommai forced to quit cabinet

General news - Friday December 14, 2007

DEFAMATION DEPUTY MINISTER CONVICTED

Sommai forced to quit cabinet

Deputy Finance Minister Sommai Phasi yesterday resigned from cabinet after the Criminal Court jailed him for two years for defaming a deputy chief of Thai Maritime Navigation Ltd (TMN), the national shipping line.

The ruling immediately disqualified Sommai from holding the portfolio, as the constitution says cabinet members must resign if they are sentenced to jail.

Sommai said he would appeal.

Thasphong Watchuprapha, a former deputy director-general of TMN took the case to court in late 2004.

Sommai was chairman of the TMN board at the time. The lawsuit accused him and four other directors _ Somphorn Kaewngam, Nopphon Thepsittha, Jirasek Treemetsunthorn and Techa Bunyachai _ of abusing their authority by unlawfully suspending him from duty.

The five directors acted on an allegation in an anonymous letter, even though the investigation into the allegation was still under way.

Sommai signed the suspension order when he was not authorised to. Mr Thasphong lost eight months' pay as a result.

Mr Thasphong said the five directors had been acting to cover up their own mismanagement, which cost the shipping line 100 million baht in damage.

The court convicted all five directors. It said they were liable to three years in jail. After taking into account their contribution to society it cut the sentence by one third, but refused to suspend it.

Bangkok Post