This Article is From Aug 23, 2023

Senior Thai Politician Sentenced To Jail For Sexual Harassment

Prinn Panitchpakdi, the former deputy head of Thailand's Democrat Party, was found guilty of two counts of sexual harassment against an 18-year-old student in 2021, according to the Office of the Attorney-General.

Senior Thai Politician Sentenced To Jail For Sexual Harassment

The Bangkok Southern Criminal Court sentenced him to two years and eight months in prison on August 10.

Bangkok:

A senior Thai conservative politician has been sentenced to two years and eight months imprisonment for sexual harassment, the prosecutor's office said.

Prinn Panitchpakdi, the former deputy head of Thailand's Democrat Party, was found guilty of two counts of sexual harassment against an 18-year-old student in 2021, according to the Office of the Attorney-General.

The Bangkok Southern Criminal Court sentenced the 45-year-old to two years and eight months in prison on August 10.

"He has the right to appeal according to the rule of law," Kosolwat Intuchanyong, the deputy spokesperson of the attorney-general's office, told AFP on Wednesday.

A total of 14 women have filed complaints against Prinn Panitchpakdi, whose father was deputy prime minister and a director-general of the World Trade Organization.

He resigned from the Democrat Party in 2022 after the allegations, which he denied, emerged.

The former investment banker was seen as a rising political star after being appointed the Democrat Party's deputy leader in 2019, less than three years after joining.

The #MeToo movement swept the globe in 2017 but went relatively unnoticed in Thailand, with few public accusations of sexual assault against well-known figures.

Prinn Panitchpakdi will face another case on September 25.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

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