Former MP jailed after casting votes for colleagues

A former Member of the House of Representatives from the Pheu Thai Party, Narisorn Thongtirat, was sentenced to 16 months in jail after he was found guilty of signing and casting votes for colleagues.

The Criminal Division for Politicians under the Supreme Court yesterday sentenced Narisorn, the former MP of the northeastern province of Sakon Nakhon.

An investigation found Narisorn guilty of acting illegally during Parliament meetings on September 10 and September 11, 2013. On these two days, Parliament considered a draft of the Loan Act and opened for MPs to vote.

Three videos from a security camera inside the Parliament meeting hall caught Narisorn inserting his MP card into the electronic signing and voting device. He then repeated the act with his colleagues’ MP cards

Narisorn pushed each card into the device to register their presence at the meeting before casting votes on their behalf.

The court investigated the videos and confirmed that they had not been tampered with and there were no editing techniques used.

The status light on the device was shown every time Narisorn slotted in an MP card proving he appeared and voted as those colleagues.

Narisorn was charged with neglecting to perform duties according to Section 68 of the Constitution and charged with intentionally abusing his authority and function according to Section 123 and 123/1 of the Prevention and Suppression of Corruption Act.

Narisorn was sentenced to two years in jail. His confession was useful to the court so the penalty was mitigated to one year and four months in jail.

Narisorn was denied bail and jailed immediately after the sentence was passed because his action is considered a serious offence.

SOURCE: Thairath | MRG Online