Thailand's Thaksin on Abuse of Power: Only Light Slap Prescribed by Phairath Khampha 22 April 2002 Thailand's Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra ordered "minor" disciplinary action against two senior Anti Money-Laundering Office officials after concluding that they were just "reckless" in launching a controversial probe into the bank assets of journalists who were critical of the government. AMLO secretary-general Peeraphan Prempooti and information director Sihanart Prayoonrat faced minor disciplinary charges, although the Administrative Court slapped an injunction on the asset probe on the grounds that it was unlawful after the prime minister had dictatorially ordered the probe in an attempt to intimidate those who would be critical of his performance as the country's leader. Thus, the two officials faced only a pay cut as the clearly undemocratic abuse of authority was deemed 'not serious' Disciplinary committee chairman Chaiyos Hemarachata said on April 1, 2002 the two AMLO officials would probably get only a slap on the wrist rather than face a serious penalty for what many Thais saw as an anti-democratic harassment of the media. "The prime minister has empowered my committee to conduct a disciplinary inquiry based on allegations of negligence - not even gross negligence - stemming from the [AMLO] investigation, which was found to be wrongful," he said. Chaiyos said the scope of his committee's work was limited to determining whether the minor disciplinary charges were substantiated and if so recommending penalties. The penalty options for minor disciplinary violations comprise lowering an official's salary scale, a pay cut, probation and a reprimand. The charges do not warrant suspending the two AMLO officials, Chaiyos said, particularly as they were indirectly ordered by the prime minister. The Chaiyos committee was appointed to conduct a disciplinary inquiry after Cabinet Secretary-General Vishanu Khrua-ngarm ruled that Peeraphan and Sihanart "had been negligent in the performance of their duties". Thaksin's instruction to the Chaiyos committee was seen as another bizarre development in the AMLO controversy, which triggered a political storm recently because of what appeared to be abuse of state power to intimidate opponents of the government. First Thaksin described AMLO as an "independent" agency, but then he declined to let Parliament investigate the scandal when it became obvious he was somehow implicated in the transgression, and instructed Vishanu to lead an inquiry. The Vishanu report said the two had breached Articles 84 and 85 of the Civil Service Commission Act. The two provisions call for civil servants to act with care in performing their duties and to uphold the law, regulations and government policy. Peeraphan and Sihanart were found to have wrongly invoked a provision of the anti-money laundering law when demanding details of the journalists' bank accounts. The prime minister's "guidelines" for the disciplinary committee led by Chaiyos underlined the government's stand on the scandal, that there was nothing seriously wrong with the AMLO launching a probe against government critics after being tipped off by an "anonymous letter". Chaiyos said the Vishanu report did not indicate the two officials had committed gross negligence, which could have led to their dismissal. Starting on March 2, the disciplinary committee convened twice a week to hear statements from 14 officials and review evidence in the officials' defence. Meanwhile Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) editors and the AMLO were in the process of submitting writs and counter-writs to present evidence to the Administrative Court in their ongoing court battle. As complainants, the NMG editors accused the AMLO of snooping into their bank records without justification. Nakhon Chompuchat, the complainants' lawyer, said on March 1 he was studying the AMLO's investigative procedures before filing an additional writ to show how the organisation's confidential classification system had been used improperly against certain targeted groups. Prayong Doklamyai, a leader of the Assembly of the Poor, said he planned to sue the AMLO with wrongful investigation into non-governmental organisation activists. Two officials face only a pay cut - Abuse of authority deemed 'not serious' The two executives of the Anti-Money Laundering Office would face no more than a pay cut if found guilty of abuse of authority in investigating the government's critics. Peeraphan Prempooti and Sihanart Prayoonrat faced nothing more serious because of the wording of the order to the disciplinary panel. Chaiyos Hemarachata, the panel's chairman, said the order signed by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra made it clear the two would be investigated for actions deemed "not serious". "It says so in the probe order. It's nothing serious. It is a case of carelessness, not corruption. And it's not a gross recklessness," said Mr Chaiyos, also an Amlo board member. Asked if his panel was "guided" on how the probe should proceed, Mr Chaiyos said the investigation was based on the conclusion of the Visanu panel and certain recommendations from the Prime Minister's Office. Mr Chaiyos said if during the inquiry the two were found to have violated other regulations, the panel would report the new finding to the prime minister. The two Amlo executives would not be suspended from duty during the probe as their jobs did not pose any obstacles to the investigation process. A source at the Civil Service Commission said the probe order did not ask for a serious disciplinary investigation because it wanted to facilitate the inquiry, meaning that the two men had been following the prime minister's orders. The government found itself in an awkward position when it launched the serious disciplinary investigation against senior officials. Some of them appealed to the Civil Service Commission and sought rulings from the Administrative Court. In the end the two would be made symbolic scapegoats. Prime Minister protecting AMLO officials An activist on April 2 criticised Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra for trying to shield two Anti-Money Laundering Office officials, saying the prime minister was insincere in meting out suitable penalties. "I am very disappointed that the government is trying to protect officials who have been found to have infringed on people's freedom and privacy," said Suriyasai Katasila, secretary-general of the Popular Campaign for Democracy in Thailand. Despite undertaking what in effect was harassment of government critics, the prime minister chose to be lenient with the two officials, Suriyasai said. "I wonder if the light charges are simply an indication of an exchange of favours between AMLO officials and their political boss," he said. He also said that the prime minister was obliged to be lenient as the two officials had been acting on political orders before their activities were leaked to the press. "If this proves true, then this is a dirty trick to save the culprit who ordered the AMLO investigation," he said.