Thai court rules minister can keep job despite alleged heroin trafficking link
CNN
Thailand's Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that a prominent politician should keep his cabinet post, thwarting opposition moves to disqualify him over news reports he was jailed in Australia for drug trafficking in the 1990s.
The ruling said Thammanat Prompao, a deputy agriculture minister and power broker in Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha's ruling coalition, did not violate the constitution because he had not been convicted by a Thai court. "Although Thammanat received judgment, it was from a court in New South Wales, Australia ... but not a judgment from a Thai court and so is not prohibited from holding office based on constitution," it said in its decision.
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