By Max Constant
BANGKOK
Thai officials have defended revisions to an anti-corruption law that could lead to some foreign officials being sentenced to death, saying Wednesday that they were made in accordance with a United Nations charter.
Vicha Mahakun, a commissioner at the Anti-Corruption Commission, told the Bangkok Post Wednesday that the amendments to the 1942 law were made according to the requirements of the United Nations Convention Against Corruption, to which Thailand is a signatory.
"The increased penalties in the law do not violate human rights or international norms,” he said.
He added that the amendments do not solely apply to state officials.
“If foreign officials and officers of foreign organisations take or call for bribes, they could face the same penalties.”
A foreign diplomat approached by Anadolu Agency said that the inclusion of foreign officials "does not make sense.”
“Foreign diplomats and representatives of international organizations are protected by diplomatic immunity," said the diplomat, who requested anonymity as he was not authorised to speak to media.
Another provision of the new law states a statute of limitations of 20 years no longer applies if the person convicted of corruption flees the country.
The change is seen to be targeted at ex-prime minister and junta nemesis Thaksin Shinawatra who was convicted in 2008 of a corruption-related charge but fled abroad.
Since the May 22 coup last year, which saw the elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra - Thaksin's sister - overthrown, the junta and the government it established have initiated a nationwide anti-corruption campaign.
New control mechanisms are being inserted in a draft constitution currently being debated.
Royalist conservatives who support the military regime led by General Prayuth Chan-ocha have claimed that Yingluck’s government ran a rice-subsidies scheme between 2011 and 2014 which was riddled with corruption and provoked massive financial losses for the country.
