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BANGKOK: Thailand's army-backed government has blocked ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra's website amid heightened tensions ahead of a court decision on the future of two key political parties, an official said on Monday.
The Hi-Thaksin website can no longer be accessed in Thailand due to "security concerns", an information ministry spokesman said while declining to indicate whether the move was related to Wednesday's landmark verdict on the parties.
The Constitutional Tribunal decides on Wednesday whether Thai Rak Thai (TRT), the party formed by Thaksin, and the Democrat Party are guilty of a slew of charges of electoral fraud related to annulled elections in April last year.
If found guilty, the tribunal has the power to dissolve the parties and ban their executives from politics for five years.
Such a move would significantly alter Thailand's political landscape, analysts say, and there are fears the verdict may spark violence in Bangkok, prompting warnings that the government could resort to "an emergency decree" if necessary.
Thaksin's lawyer Noppadol Pattama said the government feared his client, who remains in self-imposed exile, could use the website to try and rally support.
"I think the government is too concerned that the former prime minister will post something related to politics," Noppadol told AFP.
Media rights campaigners have warned of increasing censorship since last year's coup that ousted Thaksin.
Since coming to power, the military has blacked out international news broadcasts, seized a private television station and blocked political websites.
Thailand has blocked some 45,000 websites, the group Freedom Against Censorship Thailand has said.
Most are pornographic, but the government also targets sites critical of the king or supportive of Thaksin.
The English-daily Nation newspaper said on Monday the government had blocked 16 pro-Thaksin websites, but the information ministry declined to confirm the report.
Hi-Thaksin currently features information about Thaksin's trip to Russia earlier this month, and sports.
- AFP/so
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