BANGKOK – In the wake of the corruption scandal involving the leaked video of a Constitutional Court aide being lobbied by a member of the Democratic Party, the court has filed a lawsuit against Nokia, the manufacturer of the E63 smartphone that investigators now believe is responsible for the attack on one of the nation’s highest legal institutions.
“The Constitutional Court will not stand by while its integrity is assaulted by foreign groups that do not understand Thailand,” said court president Chat Cholaworn, adding that “this is not the first time that the nation has been threatened by conspirators in Finland.”
Having already dismissed aide Pasit Sakdanarong, revoked his passport, taken legal actions against the unnamed individual responsible for uploading the video to YouTube, and filed defamation lawsuits against news agencies reporting the story about the video’s contents, the court nonetheless felt the need to make certain that all guilty parties in the crime were accounted for.
“This episode is a clear demonstration of what needs to be done in this country to protect our legal standards and democracy,” said Cholaworn. “We must sue, arrest, and attack anyone involved in the dissemination of the material as an example to others of how Thailand’s justice system works.”
The E63, which shoots medium-resolution video using its small built-in camera, was released in the Thai market in early 2009, leading investigators to believe that the plot against Thailand’s courts was professionally planned and well-funded.
“Our investigation has revealed that Nokia has placed as many as 3 million video-capable phones all over the country, many in the hands of known antigovernmental subversives,” said Crime Suppression Division commander Supisarn Pakdiparuenart. “In fact, Nokia phones were frequently spotted in the hands of red-shirt agitators during the May riots.”
Armed officers of the CSD stormed the Nokia Thailand offices this morning, seizing computers and arresting upper management members, who were charged with violating Article 7 of the National Security Code, which retroactively criminalizes anything that is offered as a diversionary target in a government press conference.
The Democratic Party member who appeared in the video thanked the court for its vigilance in protecting the judicial process, and expressed confidence in a favorable verdict in the party’s ongoing corruption trial.
“It’s sad that an institution such as Nokia, which so many Thais trusted to help move this country forward, appears willing to undermine Thai democracy this way,” said Wirat Romyen, a member of the Democrat party. “It’s the worst kind of hypocrisy, and we should all demand better.”
