Thai court blocks anti-junta politician from joining House

A Thai court on Thursday blocked the leader of a new anti-junta political party from taking his seat in Parliament while it determines whether he violated election rules.

The ruling is likely to increase political tensions in Thailand, where the military has seized power from elected governments twice in the past 13 years and courts regularly issue rulings that critics call biased.

The Constitutional Court accepted a case against Future Forward Party leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who is accused of breaking election law by holding shares in a media company.

The court barred him from taking his seat in the meantime. The court action came after the state Election Commission forwarded its recommendation to prosecute Thanathorn, asserting there was credible evidence against him.

Thanathorn has said he is not guilty of breaching the shareholding rule because the shares he held were transferred before he contested the election.

However, the court said it was suspending him because he could be guilty as charged, which would be an "obstruction to the important work to the meetings in the House of Representatives."