Former Thailand PM cleared of charges in deadly protests News
Former Thailand PM cleared of charges in deadly protests

[JURIST] Thailand’s Supreme Court [official website] on Thursday cleared former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva [BBC bio] and his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban of murder and attempted murder during a crackdown in 2010 on anti-government protesters. More than 90 people were killed [Reuters report] during the crackdown. The court affirmed [Bangkok Post report] the two lower courts’ decision that the Department for Special Investigation, which brought the case, did not have sufficient jurisdiction. The Supreme Court said that any proceedings must be filed with the National Anti-Corruption Commission [official website].

This decision follows the acquittal [JURIST report] of two other prime ministers earlier this month for a similar crackdown on protesters in 2008. Last week another former prime minister fled the country [JURIST report] before facing a verdict on her corruption charges. Also in August a Thai activist was imprisoned or sharing a BBC article about the country’s king, and a prominent Thai journalist was charged [JURIST reports] with sedition.

THIS DAY @ LAW

Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, murdered by Henry II's knights

On December 29, 1170, Archbishop Thomas Becket, former Chancellor of England, was murdered in Canterbury Cathedral by knights acting in the name of Henry II.

Becket and Henry had been entangled in a power struggle over, among other things, criminal jurisdiction over clergy. Read a contemporary account of the murder of Thomas Becket.

Texas attains US statehood

On December 29, 1845, Texas became the twenty-eighth state to join the United States of America when US President James K. Polk signed the Ordinance of Annexation. Texas had a complicated path to statehood because it had formerly been part of Mexico and then an independent republic. The US Congress passed the Annexation of the Republic of Texas Joint Resolution on March 1, 1845. Voters in Texas then approved the Ordinance of Annexation in October, before it was approved by the US Congress and signed into law by President Polk on this day in 1845. The US Supreme Court later ruled in Texas v. White that, despite its unique path to statehood, Texas did not have the right to secede from the union.