Thai media tycoon gets six months for slander, plans appeal

Sep 11, 2009, 10:45 GMT

   Bangkok - Thailand's Appeals Court on Friday upheld a guilty verdict for libel against a media tycoon who was a leader of anti-government protests last year.

   Sondhi Limthongkul, owner of the Manager Media Group, saw his two-year sentence from the Criminal Court cut to six months by the Appeals Court, but he said he would appeal to the Supreme Court.

   The lawsuit dates back to November 2005 when Sondhi on a live television talk show claimed Phumtham Wechayachai, then-deputy transport minister and deputy secretary general of the since dissolved Thai Rak Thai Party, was a member of a group that tried to overthrow the constitutional monarchy in 1973.

   Phumtham sued Sondhi, and in March 2007, the Criminal Court found Sondhi guilty of intentionally misleading the public.

   Fridays' ruling came a day after the Criminal Court sentenced him to two years in prison for making libelous statements against former finance minister and deputy prime minister Pridyathorn Devakula.

   In yet another case in 2007, the Criminal Court sentenced Sondhi to three years in prison for defaming deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, head of the Thai Rak Thai. Sonhdi has appealed both sentences.

   Although he has made a lot of court news of late, the media tycoon is better known as a leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), a loose coalition of groups adamantly opposed to Thaksin's return to power. Thaksin was ousted in a bloodless coup in September 2006.

   The PAD held six months of street protests last year, culminating in its seizure of Bangkok's two airports for a week. It ended its demonstrations after the downfall of the previous pro-Thaksin coalition government on December 3.

   Sondhi could also face charges for his part in the airport seizure.

   More recently, Sondhi survived an assassination attempt on April 17 near his office in Bangkok. He walked away with a minor head wound from the attack, in which nearly 100 bullets were fired at his car.

   He blamed 'military men' for the attack. The case is still under investigation.