Prinn faces new indecency charge

Police say they will summon the embattled former deputy leader of the Democrat Party, Prinn Panitchpakdi, to acknowledge a charge of indecent exposure next week.

Pol Maj Gen Trairong Piwpan, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, met with investigators from the Lumpini police station on Saturday to discuss the multiple charges of sexual harassment and indecent exposure that Mr Prinn is facing.

There is sufficient evidence in one of the cases being handled by Lumpini police to summon Mr Prinn, Pol Maj Gen Trairong said after the meeting.

The case involves a woman who accused the former Democrat of indecent exposure in a restaurant in 2013 and rape in 2014. However, the alleged rape in 2014 cannot be pursued because the victim did not report it to authorities within three months of its occurrence.

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Metropolitan police are investigating five cases in connection with Mr Prinn, four of which had been filed with Lumpini police and another with the Huai Khwang station. The suspect has acknowledged the charges.

Police in Phetchaburi and Chiang Mai are also looking into allegations against Mr Prinn filed in their respective provinces.

Pol Maj Gen Trairong added that the number of alleged victims remained the same, and that their testimonies had not changed.

Mr Prinn, 45, is the son of Supachai Panitchpakdi, a former deputy prime minister in the Democrat-led government of Chian Leekpai in the 1990s. Mr Supachai went on to become director-general of the World Trade Organization and later served as secretary-general of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

On April 14, Mr Prinn announced his immediate resignation from the coalition Democrat Party to fight numerous allegations of sexual harassment and rape.