NACCPol General Watcharapol Prasarnrajkit, chair of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said he had urged all units responsible for cases against politicians to speed up their work, but admitted there were many cases against Yingluck in the hands of the NACC.At least 13 cases are pending against the former premier, who has asked authorities to treat her fairly.Besides Yingluck's cases, Watcharapol said, the NACC would fast-track a case against Suthep Thaugsuban, the former deputy premier and Democrat Party member, accused of graft over a multimillion-baht project to build 396 police stations nationwide. Many people have questioned the progress made in this controversial case.In a bid to speed up the justice process on corruption cases, a new Criminal Court division for cases of official corruption will open next month, he said. This will allow the NACC to forward pending cases to the new court, which is expected to take less time to make rulings. As a result, wrongdoers could possibly face jail within three years.Watcharapol said the faster justice process should help discourage corruption. The compensation amount was just 20 per cent of the state's Bt178-billion loss over two seasons from 2012-2014.

Source: The Nation Bangkok September 26, 2016 17:15 UTC