Thai Court Overturns Conviction In The Murder Of Environmental Activist Charoen

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Court overturns conviction in the murder of activist
The Nation

BANGKOK: -- The Appeals Court yesterday overturned a murder conviction in relation to the killing of environmental activist Charoen Wataksorn.

Charoen, gunned down in broad daylight in 2004, was campaigning against the construction of a coal-fired power plant in his home province of Prachuap Khiri Khan.

The court yesterday contradicted the lower court's verdict and acquitted one of the five defendants, citing insufficient evidence. The lower court had already acquitted two of the defendants, while the other two died ahead of the judicial review.

Charoen's wife, Korn-uma, said she anticipated this verdict, especially after the alleged gunman died.

She called on the public prosecutors to prove themselves and deliver justice to her family. "But based on the Appeals Court's decision, I find it difficult to place hope on the [final] verdict from the Supreme Court," she said.

The five defendants, Saneh Lekluan, Prachuab, Thanu, Manot and Jua Hinkaew, were accused of conspiring to put a contract on Charoen's life. The prosecution contended that Thanu, Manot and Jua had hired Prachuab and Saneh to kill Charoen following a feud over the construction project.

In 2008, the lower court ruled that even though Prachuab and Saneh had died before trial, the prosecution presented credible arguments about their motives. It also handed down a guilty verdict for Thanu and sentenced him to execution by shooting.

In the same verdict, Manot and Jua were acquitted due to insufficient evidence. But under court order, Jua has remained in remand pending appellate review. Manot was freed.

According to the high court, the prosecution only had statements from the two dead defendants to implicate Thanu. There was no other physical evidence or witnesses to corroborate the two statements.

Furthermore, the statements did not link Manot and Jua to the case. The appellate ruling acquitted Thanu and confirmed the acquittals of Manot and Jua.

Emerged from the court session, Thanu just smiled but refused to talk to reporters.


-- The Nation 2013-03-16

[OzMick]

The 2 gunmen died before trial? Sounds like an extreme case of Chalermitis.

[arthurboy]

Case

[LuckyLew]

Case

doubt it ... now the recently released will sue and demand and get a huge payout

[jaltsc]

Best justice money can buy

[Locationthailand]

Statements are not necessarily admissible unless backed by solid evidence so I would concur the evidence is circumstantial and (sadly) able to be appealed. The fact the poor bastard was murdered does not detract from the fact there are guilty parties out there. But like a lot of Thai cases, doubtful anyone will ever know the full truth. My sympathies to his widow.

[SamMunich]

This only prooves a few things, already known among people around here:

1) The police by and large can't do detective work, they normally rely on snitches/informers to "build their case".

2) Money can get you off any hook, only bigger hooks need bigger piles of cash.

3) There is a good reason, why contempt of court is such a grave offense here. If people would be able to say, what they think of corrupt court officials, the image of these officials (like many other state officials!) would be below that of a used car salesman...

4) I'm not legally criticizing any government official, I'm only thinking aloud...

Sam M.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

No explanation in the news report of how the two guys supposedly hired for the hit died ahead of their trial... Seems a bit odd, unless someone(s) with a murder on their hands wanted to erase potential testimony in the case.

Likewise, the trial court convicts and gives a death sentence not to the actual gunmen but to one of the guys who allegedly hired them. And then the case goes from a death sentence by the trial court to a total acquittal by the appellate court -- not even returning the case to the trial court for retrial/reconsideration.

Gotta love the criminal justice system here. Obviously, the widow of the victim didn't have enough juice...