Frustrated father in struggle to free his wrongly accused son
Visith Chuanpipatpong
The Sunday Nation

Narathiwat man says he would have backed insurgents because of delayed justice

Frustration over repeated injustice prompted a 51-year-old father to burst out: "I don't know how to express the pain I felt over our family's plight. If the opposite side [deep South insurgents and sympathisers] asked me to cut down trees, sprinkle road spikes or burn tyres on roads, I'd have done it." Sukree Taleh, from Narathiwat's Sungai Padi district, was recalling his four-year battle for justice for his son Ma-asam.

One factor leading to the region's ongoing unrest was injustice against residents, which stemmed from problems within the justice system including some law-enforcers' unfair treatment and lack of integration among related agencies.

In the past decade, the court's acquittal rate was 70 per cent. Out of the 8,778 national security cases from early 2004 until 2012, only 2,079 cases were able to identify the culprits. Only 1,472 national security cases have seen suspects captured so far.

Police reasoned that it was difficult to arrest culprits when people did not dare to be witnesses and the attacks were carried out with a special motivation - not a personal dispute, or a conflict of interest - as in other regions.

The case concerning Sukree Taleh's family, however, shows a different angle. In local residents' eyes, it was already tough to survive in the "red zone", but accusations that family members were crime suspects worsened the family's situation.

In July 2009, the Taleh family's home was raided twice by police to arrest Ma-asam for conspiracy to murder in December 2008, as well as the illegal possession of guns. Sukree tried in vain to explain to police that his son had been jailed since July 2007 for a deadly assault on a thief who tried to steal rubber at Ma-asam's employer's plantation. However, Sukree's appeal to the police - that Ma-asam couldn't possibly have shot anyone in the 2008 case - fell on deaf ears.

Sukree, therefore, talked with the victim's relatives and was told that they had not identified Ma-asam as the culprit.

After his release in April 2012, Ma-asam was summoned by police and so he fled to Malaysia, with the risk that rage over his injustice, could have turned him into an insurgent sympathiser.

Sukree, in the meantime, filed an appeal for justice at various agencies, until Central Investigation Bureau chief Lt-General Pongpat Chayapan, picked up his complaint in August.

Pongpat assigned Colonel Athip Thaenin to work with public prosecutors and Sungai Padi Police Station. Athip got prison officials' confirmation of Ma-asam's incarceration during the alleged murder attempt, resulting in the revocation of Ma-asam's arrest warrant.

-- The Nation 2013-10-20

What, does his son pronounce his name Mason and resemble a farang?

He was unjustifiably convicted of a crime he did not commit.

A sad case but unfortunately a common one world wide.

The article did not mention if he would receive a sum of money as well as an erasure of the judgement.

The one thing that was left out was there a lot of things that he was guilty of and the courts just grabbed this one to use to punish him.

Kind of like a plea bargain in the states where My brother admitted to a bunch of crimes he had nothing to do with in return for them dropping the charges he was guilty of.

Typical lack of investigative reporting from the Nation.

Pongpat assigned Colonel Athip Thaenin to work with public prosecutors and Sungai Padi Police Station. Athip got prison officials' confirmation of Ma-asam's incarceration during the alleged murder attempt, resulting in the revocation of Ma-asam's arrest warrant.

It's good there is the Central Investigation Bureau chief Lt-General Pongpat Chayapan, So many injustices in this world.

He should be up for release when the amnesty for all bill gets through its third bill reading.

Deadly assault on a rubber thief? Ma-asam sounds like a real nice guy!!! No way he could possibly be involved with the insurgents even though he clealry had nothing to do with the case they accuse him of.

So the police raided the family home looking for a guy who was already in jail then & when the crime they were 'investigating' was committed.

It's no wonder that they have so little credibility throughout Thailand and none at all in the deep south.