Red-shirt gets fined
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The Criminal Court yesterday gave a red-shirt protester a one-year suspended jail term and a 100,000-baht fine for defaming Saprang Kalayanamitr, a 2006 coup leader, by accusing the general of embezzling 12 million baht from the government coffers.
Somyos Phrueksakasemsuk, a member of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), told a protest rally at the Democracy Monument on May 19, 2007, that Gen Saprang, when he was secretary-general of the Council for National Security (CNS), had withdrawn 12 million baht of state money and given the amount to Chienchuang Kalayanamitr, one of his relatives, for private use.
The CNS staged the 2006 military coup that toppled the Thaksin Shinawatra government.
The court originally gave Somyos a two-year prison term and a fine of 100,000 baht. His confession convinced the court to halve the jail sentence. And since this was his first conviction, the court also decided to suspend the jail term for two years. He is required to do 20 hours of community service and to report to probation officers every three months.
Pattaya City Time
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