Abhisit's draft-dodging case resurfaces

[Khun Don]

Abhisit's draft-dodging case resurfaces
Published: 19/07/2012 at 06:34 PMOnline news: Local News

There is solid evidence former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva dodged the military draft and the Defence Ministry has sent it to the Office of the Ombudsman as requested, Defence Minister Sukumpol Suwanatat said on Thursday.

ACM Sukumpol said the Ombudsman earlier sent a letter to the Defence Ministry asking it to the investigate facts behind an allegation that Mr Abhisit, the opposition Democrat Party leader, had evaded military conscription and falsified related documents.

He said the Ombudsman might have acted after receiving a complaint.

The Defence Ministry had compiled all related documents and then sent them to the Ombudsman on July 10, he said.

"The documents indicate quite clearly that there was draft-dodging. That was a long time ago. Whether or not Mr Abhisit had the intention of evading conscription, the question must be raised with Mr Abhisit. But the documents clearly show that there is," ACM Sukumpol said.

ACM Sukumpol said he had assigned the Judge Advocate General's Department to look into the matter in detail, because the alleged offence occurred more than 20 years ago.

"This is not a politically motivated action against Mr Abhisit. I am not the person who dug up the matter. The Defence Ministry acted after receiving a request for the documents. Under the regulations, we have to do that within 30 days," he said.

On Mr Abhisit's claim that he was exempted from conscription because he was a lecturer at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy, ACM Sukumpol said it must be determined whether Mr Abhisit had evidence to back his claim of exemption when he applied for the job at the CRMA in 1987 or whether he had used falsified documents.

The minister said the army had also investigated this matter and the results of the investigation revealed that some documents had been forged and some military officers involved had been punished. This happened about 10 years ago. The documents from the investigation had been sent to the Ombudsman.

The original investigation report was made to the then army chief and the Defence Ministry received a copy of it.

ACM Sukumpol declined to comment when asked if the army had covered up this matter to help Mr Abhisit. He said only that the evidence the Defence Ministry has had been sent to the Office of the Ombudsman.

He said the documents cannot be revealed to the public. Anybody who wanted to see them must submit a request to the Office of the Ombudsman under the Information Act.

Mr Abhisit was subject to attacks by the opposition on the allegation when he was prime minister. He said in reply to a question then that he was exempted from military service by serving as a lecturer in the military academy.

He said that during that time he also took part in territorial defence training, like many young Thai men do to be eligible for exemption from service. He insisted he presented a real military document, a Sor Dor 9, when he applied for the teaching job at the CRMA.

Mr Abhisit said on Thursday ACM Sukumpol was trying to help red-shirt co-leader Jatuporn Prompan by digging up the draft-dodging allegation made against him.

The Democrat leader said he personally believed that ACM Sukumpol's remarks concerning the Office of the Ombudsman's request for the Defence Ministry to send it documented evidence on the draft-dodging allegation against him were intended to help Mr Jatuporn in a legal case that he had filed against the red-shirt leader.

He said the Defence Ministry was about to testify as a defence witness in this case. Mr Jatuporn is a defendant in five legal cases, and only one has been concluded, he said.

He said he would rather not repeat his defence he had made in parliament.

The former premier said he had not looked into ACM Sukumpol's remarks in detail. If he found the defence minister had violated his rights he might consider filing a lawsuit against him, Mr Abhisit added.

BANGKOK POST

[Curt]

Avoiding the draft is a very common practice for HiSos. Most just have the good sense to stay out of politics.

I know one such person who, every time the district office changes regimes, has to pay off some over zealous file clerk who scours the records.

[fileeep]

Only the poor die in war........but he is the same as another Hiso draft dodger......George bush

[misterA]

There were many ways people used to avoid the draft in the USA, both legal and illegal. And you didn't even need to be hiso to do so. Serving in the national guard was, and still is, a legal and honorable way to serve in the military, and was not considered draft dodging.

[Khun Don]

Fake document got Abhisit his military job, Defence Ministry says
The Nation July 21, 2012 1:00 am

The Defence Ministry has found that a falsified military document was used when opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva applied to serve as a lecturer at the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy.

In its letter to the Office of the Auditor-General, the ministry said discrepancies were found between the Sor Dor 9 conscription document used in Abhisit's application for the military job and the records at the Conscription Registrar's Office.

The ministry was responding to the agency's earlier request as part of its investigation into the matter, according to a report on the Independent News Network website.

The ministry said that Abhisit's document stated he was exempted from military service and was enlisted as a reserve officer on April 8, 1988, but that in the records at the Conscription Registrar's Office, the date of enlistment was stated as July 4, 1986.

The ministry said Abhisit should not have been eligible for exemption from military service because he was not studying at the time.

Abhisit's Sor Dor 9 document was a replacement for the original that had been reported as lost. He became a lecturer at the military academy after graduating from Oxford University.

With discrepancies in the document, it should not have been used in applying for the job at the military academy, the Defence Ministry concluded. It said in its letter that the Judge Advocate General's Department has been instructed to gather more evidence regarding the matter.

The ministry would determine later whether it is entitled to seek a return of the benefits obtained by Abhisit during his service at the military academy. It also would consider whether to take legal action against anyone who was involved in the alleged falsification of the document and use of it.

Defence Minister ACM Sukampol Suwannathat has set up a fact-finding team on the matter. The Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy later sent documents relating to Abhisit's application for the job to the probe team but that no original Sor Dor 9 document was found.

[Betti]

takes some cheek to avoid military service and then go teach at the military academy. :-/
honestly, I don't think there is much wrong with trying to get out of military service.... illegal or not. but then, take the consequences, lie low. or just find a legal way out, whatever.
(all my classmates and my brother's classmates refused to show up. at that time, this was so widespread that they managed to force less than 30% of the conscripts into actually showing up! some chose to come up with papers saying they are hard of hearing or claimed to be gay, many simply didn't turn themselves in, like my brother and his friends who burned their papers. the whole practice was abolished soon and they weren't punished, as this was the mid-90s in Eastern Europe, not the Viet-era US of course.)

[Khun Don]

Draft-dodging case ruling set
Published: 27/07/2012 at 06:27 PMOnline news: Local News

The Criminal Court will rule on Sept 27 on a defamation case brought against red-shirt co-leader Jatuporn Prompan by Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva.

The court set the date on Friday after Asst Prof Worapol Promigabutr, a lecturer in the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology at Thammasat University, testified as the final defence witness.

The defamation suit stems from remarks Mr Jatuporn made during red shirt gatherings between Jan 29 and Feb 15, 2010, claiming that Mr Abhisit had dodged military conscription.

Mr Abhisit and the Democrat Party maintain that he had received an exemption from service.

BANGKOK POST