The Police Commission decided unanimously on Friday that Thaksin Shinawatra should be stripped of his lieutenant-colonel rank. The recommendation will be sent to police chief Somyot Poompanmoung today....
If he agrees with it, the recommendation will be forward to the Prime Minister's Secretariat Office for action.
Pol Gen Chaiya Siri-ampankul, chairman of the panel considering the case, said on Friday panel members found Thaksin, being a suspect in a criminal case and then fleeing, had met one of the seven conditions...
Pol Gen Chaiya insisted the panel members were not bullying anyone but simply acted by law. "The accused can explain in writing to the National Police Bureau."
The panel based its decision on the ruling by the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions. In 2008, Thaksin was sentenced in absentia to two years in jail by the court for abuse of power in the sale of state land to his then wife in an auction when he was prime minister. He fled Thailand before he was sentenced and has since lived in self-exile abroad.