The move to permanently ban Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) MP Pareena Kraikupt from politics last week for encroaching on protected forest tracts in Ratchaburi has sparked a debate on whether the punishment was appropriate for the crime, as she has yet to be convicted by a criminal court of the allegation.
Despite the absence of a binding conviction, the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Political Position Holders banned her from participating in politics for life, saying she had violated the code of ethics by occupying parts of a forest reserve in Ratchaburi.
The decision means she won't be able to run for office at any level ever again, in addition to being barred from voting in elections for 10 years. The ruling, which was delivered on April 7, was to be retroactively applied from March 25 last year -- the date when she was first suspended by the court over the allegations.
How did the probe begin?
The saga began with an interview which Ms Pareena gave on Oct 29, 2019, in which she claimed to have been urged by residents of Ratchaburi's Chom Bung district to reclaim 500 rai of land owned by Somporn Juangroongruangkit, the mother of the Progressive Movement's chairman, Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. She said the land was intended for farmers -- who wanted it declared a community forest -- and should not have been transferred to private ownership.
About two weeks later, Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a member of the now-dissolved Thai Raksa Chart Party, petitioned the National Anti-Corruption Commission to look at Ms Pareena's asset declaration to determine the status of the 1,706-rai plot of land she listed.
What was the probe's result?
The Royal Forest Department (RFD) and the Agricultural Land Reform Office (Alro) surveyed Ms Pareena's land and concluded that some 46 rai intersected a forest reserve. They also found 600 rai of her land had been handed by the RFD to Alro as a part of the government's land reform initiative.
Ms Pareena later asked the NACC to revise her asset declaration, saying she owned only 600 rai of land. Ms Pareena also returned parts of the land to Alro.
The Council of State, the government's legal arm, then determined the tracts which the RFD had transferred to Alro had yet to be developed as intended, and as such must be considered as a forest reserve -- allowing the RFD to begin legal proceedings against Ms Pareena.
On Feb 15, 2020, the RFD found Ms Pareena encroached on two other protected forests, one covering 682 rai and another 665 rai. In all, she faces prosecution in three land encroachment cases.
What charge is the former MP facing?
The Natural Resources and Environmental Crime Division presented the results of its investigation to the prosecution, in which it recommended an indictment against Ms Pareena for the illegal occupation of protected forest, which had been developed into a chicken farm in Chom Bung district of Ratchaburi.
She was charged with violating the Forest Reserve Act, colluding to occupy and utilise forestland without permission and damaging a national reserve.
The charges carry a punishment of 4-20 years in jail, a fine of 200,000-2 million baht or both.
How is Ms Pareena's case different from the alleged forest encroachment of the Juangroongruangkit family?
Phichai Ratnatilaka Na Bhuket, a political science lecturer at the National Institute of Development Administration, said although Ms Pareena was an MP and an active politician at the time the ban was handed down, Ms Somporn is a non-politician.
Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, despite also being named a forestland encroacher in connection to Ms Somporn's case, has, however, been found guilty by the Constitutional Court in a media share ownership case and is currently subject to a 10-year political ban.
Will the Pareena Kraikupt case set a precedent for ethical conduct of politicians?
Mr Phichai said politicians embroiled in cases of a similar type are bound to be punished in the same way, unless the constitution is amended to reduce the punishment applied. In future, the issue may need to undergo a review since a lifetime political ban is seen by some as excessive in a democratic system, where the right to contest an election is foundational. The length of political ban should be commensurate with the crime.
Have other politicians been punished for forest intrusion?
Ms Pareena was the first politician to be punished for wrongdoing over forest encroachment by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions. The court was given the authority to rule on ethical cases against politicians in October 2018 under the charter. The NACC has announced that at least 20 politicians are being investigated in connection with forest encroachment.
What of the criminal cases pending against Ms Pareena concerning encroachment?
The cases are being tried in the Ratchaburi provincial court. Some political experts agree the lifetime ban against Ms Pareena may be too severe, considering the Criminal Court has yet to decide on the criminal cases.
