The cabinet yesterday endorsed a royal decree to seek amnesty for convicts on His Majesty the King's birthday next month in a move criticized by the opposition as being designed to benefit former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Government House sources said the decree was raised as an unscheduled item during the weekly cabinet meeting chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was not present at the meeting and all officials were asked to leave the room when the issue was deliberated, the sources said.
Relevant documents were also removed from Government House's press release, the sources said.
If the decree is approved, convicts who are at least 60 years old and are sentenced to under three years in jail will be eligible for the amnesty.
Unlike the 2010 amnesty decree issued by the previous Democrat-led government, the approved draft does not bar convicts prosecuted for corruption from being eligible for the amnesty.
The decree does not require the convicts to partially serve a jail term before being eligible for the amnesty, either.
Thaksin, 62, was convicted in 2008 for abuse of power for helping his then wife Potjaman Na Pombejra buy state-owned land in the Ratchadaphisek area of Bangkok in 2003.
He fled overseas before the verdict was issued and has remained a fugitive in self-imposed exile.
The sources said the criteria set out under the decree would make the former prime minister who was prosecuted by the National Anti-Corruption Commission eligible for the amnesty without having to serve one day of his sentence.
Prime Minister Yingluck who is a younger sister of Thaksin went to Sing Buri province on Monday to observe flood recovery efforts there.
She stayed overnight in the province allegedly because her Russian-made Mi-17 helicopter did not have radar for night flights, according to officials.
She returned to Government House at 11am yesterday before recording a TV interview concerning her planned attendance at the Asean Summit in Bali which runs from today to Friday. She then went to Parliament at 2.20pm to attend a House meeting.
Ms Yingluck had assigned Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm to chair the cabinet meeting.
A minister who asked not to be named confirmed the cabinet discussed requests for an amnesty for 26,000 convicts on the occasion of His Majesty the King's birthday on Dec 5.
Other ministers declined to elaborate on the issue when they were contacted by phone or approached.
Science and Technology Minister Plodprasop Suraswadi said the meeting was a secret and he could not discuss it.
Ms Yingluck also said she did not know if the cabinet had discussed the amnesty decree, saying Mr Chalerm should be the one to speak to reporters.
Mr Chalerm refused to clarify the issue either. "I won't discuss this with you. Don't ask and don't come to see me, either," he said.
Yongyuth Wichaidit who is the first deputy prime minister and interior minister also did not attend the cabinet meeting yesterday because he accompanied Ms Yingluck to Sing Buri. Kittiratt Na-Ranong, the second deputy prime minister and commerce minister, was in Hawaii for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting.
A military source said yesterday the Mi-17 helicopter was actually equipped with radar and could fly at night. Ms Yingluck's delegation also could have had another helicopter for her return on Monday night, which the military was ready to provide.
The source said the prime minister's delegation seemed to intentionally extend her trip in Sing Buri because they boarded the helicopter nearly an hour later than scheduled.
Another source suggested Ms Yingluck may have been seeking to avoid accusations of favouring her brother by deliberately being absent from the cabinet meeting.
Democrat Sirichoke Sopha said the criteria for the new amnesty decree were apparently designed to benefit Thaksin.
He also pointed out that even without an aircraft, Ms Yingluck could have returned to Bangkok by road for yesterday's cabinet meeting because Sing Buri is only 142km away.
Democrat Sathit Wongnongtoey questioned why the cabinet discussed the amnesty behind closed doors as it is not a security matter and was a traditional part of birthday celebrations for the King.
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