Court suspends Thai PM over phone leak

The Constitutional Court of Thailand announced on Tuesday the suspension of Paetongtarn Shinawatra from her duties as prime minister over her controversial audio clip with Cambodian Senate President Hun Sen recently.

The nine Constitutional Court judges voted unanimously to accept the petition of 36 senators forwarded to the court by Senate Speaker Mongkol Surasajja. They voted 7 to 2 to suspend Paetongtarn from her duties as prime minister pending a final ruling.

The announcement was made following a petition from the 36 senators last month, which sought the removal of Paetongtarn following the leak of the audio clip of her conversation with Hun Sen, in which she referred to a Thai army commander as an "opponent". The senators said the remark showed a lack of responsibility and integrity.