Posts falsely claim top UN court 'took up' Thai opposition party's appeal against its dissolution

"Move Forward Party rejoices!" reads Thai-language text overlaid on a TikTok video viewed more than 1.5 million times since it was posted on August 14, 2024.

In an apparent reference to the ICJ, it adds: "The world court has taken up its dissolution case and considers the appeal. The chances of winning are high."

The video shows pictures of three members of the Move Forward Party (MFP), including the reformist party's former leader Pita Limjaroenrat.

Pita guided the party to a surprising first place finish in the 2023 general election; his bid to become prime minister, however, was blocked by conservative forces in the senate.

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Screenshot of the false TikTok post, taken on August 19, 2024

The video was shared a week after Thailand's Constitutional Court voted unanimously to dissolve the MFP and ban its executive board -- including Pita -- for 10 years over the group's attempts to reform the kingdom's archaic royal defamation laws (archived link).

The decision followed a ruling that the party's pledge amounted to an attempt to overthrow the constitutional monarchy.

The European Union, United States, United Nations and human rights groups blasted the court's decision, which the EU said harmed democratic openness in Thailand (archived link).

The claim also appears in other Thai-language posts on Facebook here and here, and on YouTube.

But a spokesperson for the People's Party -- the new name adopted by the MFP two days after the court-mandated dissolution -- told AFP they had no plans to appeal at the ICJ.

"The claim is not true," they said on August 21.

And, as of August 21, there have been no official reports of the ICJ agreeing to hear an appeal to the Thai court's decision, nor is any purported appeal listed in the ICJ's list of cases (archived link).

'Entirely domestic case'

Legal experts also told AFP the case falls outside the ICJ's jurisdiction.

Khemthong Tonsakulrungruang, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Political Science, told AFP the claim was "very strange" as the ICJ is an international court.

"Its jurisdiction deals with disputes between state parties and international organisations, not individuals," he said on August 20.

"This entirely domestic case falls out of ICJ's jurisdiction."

Thanapat Chatinakrob from Thammasat University's Faculty of Law added: "The dissolution of a domestic political party is typically a matter of national law and falls outside of the ICJ's jurisdiction."

"According to Article 34 of the ICJ Statute, only states may be parties in cases before the Court," he explained in an emailed response to AFP on August 19 (archived link).

AFP has previously debunked misinformation targeting MFP members here and here.