Cop Gets Bail

[cojones]

Thai cop accused of killing Britons freed on bail

Wed 10 November, 2004 06:14

BANGKOK (Reuters) - A Thai policeman accused of murdering a British couple near the famed Bridge over the River Kwai has been given bail in an unusual manner, according to a senior prosecutor and police.

Detective Sergeant Somchai Visetsingha, who surrendered in October after a month on the run and said he killed tourist Adam Lloyd because he spat in his face, was given bail by a court on Nov 2, chief prosecutor Pichet Kasetsin said.

"Under the law, the court is obliged to consult prosecutors and police on whether they object to a defendant's request to be freed temporarily, but in this case we never received notice from the court," Pichet told Reuters by telephone on Wednesday.

"Our prosecutors in this case have requested a copy of the court order, but we haven't been given one yet," he said from Kanchanaburi, a tourist spot 125 km (80 miles) west of Bangkok.

Pichet said his office had endorsed a police recommendation Somchai be charged formally in court with murder but needed the regional chief prosecutor's agreement to go ahead with the case.

Kanchanaburi's police chief said his investigators were baffled by the bail order.

"We are bewildered. Everyone here is shocked," Kanchanaburi police chief Major General Chaichan Kitichan told Reuters.

But the Kanchanaburi court defended its bail order, saying the decision was made on humanitarian grounds and Somchai was entitled to seek bail under the constitution.

"If police and prosecutors had not wanted the defendant to be released on bail, why didn't they state so clearly in their first request to the court to detain him," Kanchanaburi chief judge Narong Suthamgosol told Reuters.

Under the law, police and prosecutors have to seek court permission to detain a suspect every 12 days, up to a maximum of 84 days.

Narong said he decided to free Somchai on 1 million baht bail because he needed treatment for ribs broken in the brawl and needed to run his restaurant to pay the school fees of his three children.

Somchai, also accused of killing Vanessa Arscott, 24, with his car as she tried to flee, told reporters after he gave himself up near the Thai-Myanmar border he did not know if he killed her.

Somchai, who could face the death sentence, is accused of shooting Lloyd after a heated argument on September 9 at Somchai's restaurant in Kanchanaburi.

[Abandon]

interesting article cojones - but don't all these articles you post belong in the news clippings forum????