Court orders anti-graft agency to unveil Prawit watch probe within 15 days
The Supreme Administrative Court on Friday dismissed the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC)’s appeal against an order to disclose details of its findings in the investigation of a luxury watch collection that Palang Pracharath Party leader Prawit Wongsuwan claimed to have borrowed from a wealthy friend.
In June, the court upheld a verdict by the Central Administrative Court ordering the NACC to disclose the information following a request filed by anti-corruption activist Veera Somkwamkid under the Official Information Act.
The court had in April ordered the NACC to disclose a report on the investigation’s fact-finding and evidence gathering, as well as opinions of all NACC officials in charge of the case, and the opinions of the NACC secretary-general recorded in minutes of NACC meetings.
Prawit, a retired Army general, served as deputy prime minister in the previous government led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha. In 2017, he was spotted wearing a string of luxury watches, which he later claimed he had borrowed from a former classmate who had since died. According to Prawit, whose party is a member of the current ruling coalition, all the wristwatches had been returned to the deceased’s family.
The NACC in December 2018 cleared Prawit of making a false asset declaration to the anti-graft watchdog by omitting the watches from his report.
Veera later petitioned the Central Administrative Court, asking that the NACC reveal its findings, summaries of each commissioner’s opinion, and the minutes of NACC meetings regarding Prawit’s case.
Friday’s ruling by the Supreme Administrative Court means the anti-graft agency must now disclose the information requested within 15 days.
The Supreme Court dismissed arguments by the NACC that Veera was not a damaged party so could not file the request, adding the NACC had not raised this argument during previous trials.
It also dismissed the NACC’s argument that the information requested was confidential under the Official Information Act.
