Election Commission Releases Judgment on 77 Senate Vote-Buying Suspects
Thailand's Election Commission has released its judgment indicting 77 individuals, including 26 sitting senators, for vote-buying in the 2024 Senate election. The decision meets a 60-day legal deadline set after the EC voted 5-2 in September to pursue the case. The commission must now file formal indictments with the Supreme Court by January 12, 2025.
The Election Commission (EC) has published its judgment and decision to indict 77 individuals in the Senate vote-buying case, meeting the 60-day deadline after 'Ice Cream' urged public disclosure. Today (Nov 13) marks the end of the 60-day period since the EC's 5-2 vote on September 14, 2024, to file petitions with the Supreme Court's Election Division and pursue criminal charges against those involved in the 2024 Senate election manipulation. The 77 suspects were selected from 427 accused individuals, including 26 current senators and 51 others.
Reports indicate the EC's judgment has been completed within the 60-day framework as a full verdict, but document verification and compilation procedures remain. Next, the EC will forward the matter to the Office of the EC to verify the accuracy of the names, separate individual charges, and sort witnesses and evidence from all cross-examinations to prepare for formally filing indictments with the Supreme Court. This comes amid public anticipation for the release of the EC's full judgment.
Previously, MP Prisit Vacharasin, a party-list MP for the People's Party, cited the legal timeline, stating that within the 60-day framework, the EC was duty-bound to publish the judgment from the September 14, 2024 decision to indict 77 people in the Senate vote-buying case officially by November 13, before proceeding to submit the case file for the Supreme Court's consideration.
The EC faces another critical deadline to file indictments against all 77 accused with the Supreme Court by January 12, 2025.
