Kamronwit to be interrogated by the Japanese prosecutors July 2nd

[webfact]

Kamronwit to be interrogated tomorrow



BANGKOK: -- Former metropolitan police commissioner Pol Lt Gen Kamronwit Thoopkrachang will face the first interrogation by the Japanese prosecutors tomorrow, Royal Thai Police spokesman Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thavornsiri said before noon today.

He said the Thai embassy in Tokyo has told the latest movement in the case to the Royal Thai Police this morning after visiting the former senior officer at Narita police station.

The embassy staff called on the former officer to inquire if he needed anything more or any help.

The spokesman said the embassy staff was also informed that the Japanese prosecutors will interrogate him tomorrow for the first time before making a conclusion whether to pursue official prosecution in the court before the deadline for prosecution expires July 13.

He said the Japanese authorities still do not allow anyone or even his children to visit, except embassy staff and his lawyer.

However his lawyer is still trying to seek permission for his children to visit him, he said.

The police spokesman also said it remained unclear if the North American Arm’s .22 mini revolver was a licence gun or not.

But earlier the police have checked the gun ownership of the former officer in the gun registration system, but could not find if he had this type of gun in possession.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/kamronwit-to-be-interrogated-tomorrow

-- Thai PBS 2015-07-01

[Jay Sata]

I like the word interogation.

Once questioned he faces more days locked up before the decision.

Meanwhile confusion reigns with the Thai police.

The police spokesman also said it remained unclear if the North American Arms .22 mini revolver was a licence gun or not.

But earlier the police have checked the gun ownership of the former officer in the gun registration system, but could not find if he had this type of gun in possession.

I sure the Japanese will quickly come to the conclusion it is unlicensed.

However that is no defence to having a loaded gun in his luggage.

[Pimay1]

But earlier the police have checked the gun ownership of the former officer in the gun registration system, but could not find if he had this type of gun in possession.

So it wasn't registered in the gun registration system. This has nothing to do with the fact that he had the gun in his possession or not. What a stupid statement to support their stalling tactics.

[halloween]

Interrogation - Images of telephone books, electric leads, and water-soaked towels come to mind. Som nom naa.

[lujanit]

Charge him, since he is guilty maximum 10 years in the slammer. Add to that the charge of carrying live ammunition, add another three years in the slammer. Hard labour and no parole. Teach this bast@rd and all like him that their 'self perceived special status' means nothing outside Thailand.

[FritsSikkink]

Interrogation - Images of telephone books, electric leads, and water-soaked towels come to mind. Som nom naa.

he is not in the USA

[Jay Sata]

Charge him, since he is guilty maximum 10 years in the slammer. Add to that the charge of carrying live ammunition, add another three years in the slammer. Hard labour and no parole. Teach this bast@rd and all like him that their 'self perceived special status' means nothing outside Thailand.

Good job you are not in charge of the prosecution.

I have some sympathy for your viewpoint :-)

Edited July 1, 2015 by Jay Sata

[Kalbo]

Charge him, since he is guilty maximum 10 years in the slammer. Add to that the charge of carrying live ammunition, add another three years in the slammer. Hard labour and no parole. Teach this bast@rd and all like him that their 'self perceived special status' means nothing outside Thailand.

Good job you are not in charge of the prosecution.

I have some sympathy for your viewpoint :-)

I'll be sniggering to myself for a while if he gets sentenced and subsequently locked up. Although the longer the better, even a few months term would have me in a large smile.

[soalbundy]

They will need two interpreters, one for Japanese to Thai and one to interpret his lies.

[Lupatria]

I wonder if the scanners at swampy run with the same pixelation program like the TV stations to blur the guns.

[IamNoone88]

Hopefully in about 8 years time we can watch him on "Banged Up Abroad" explaining himself and what he missed the most about freedom. I will be watching for the "I forgot I wasn't in Thailand" sound bite.

[Oziex1]

Hopefully in about 8 years time we can watch him on "Banged Up Abroad" explaining himself and what he missed the most about freedom. I will be watching for the "I forgot I wasn't in Thailand" sound bite.

I'll be waiting for the "it was all a big misunderstanding"

[Oziex1]

Any one get the impression that the Japanese authorities are professional, determined and ready to follow this through to the end where ever it may lead.

[Briggsy]

Any one get the impression that the Japanese authorities are professional, determined and ready to follow this through to the end where ever it may lead.

More BOI privileges, cancellation of some Chinese - Thai government contracts and a lenient sentence for Kamronwit.

[gyrosman]

He's nothing special another stupid person pushing the systems buttons. Bye Bye, lock him down.

[halloween]

Interrogation - Images of telephone books, electric leads, and water-soaked towels come to mind. Som nom naa.

he is not in the USA

Well yeah. Carrying a concealed weapon (sorry, personal weapon) is almost mandatory there.

[skildpadden]

Interrogation (but probably no forced admission of guilt like in RTP though), no family visits but only a visit from a lawyer and embassy staff, not understanding the language, being shown in TV as a common criminal before convicted, being locked up for days and as prosecution takes their time you are stuck there likely until July 13.

To make it worse it doesn't matter who you know or who you are, your lies - no matter how big they are - are not believed, your former colleagues can't buy you out of jail and there is no special treatment what so ever.

Oh, your own medicine must have such a bitter taste.

[Oziex1]

Any one get the impression that the Japanese authorities are professional, determined and ready to follow this through to the end where ever it may lead.

More BOI privileges, cancellation of some Chinese - Thai government contracts and a lenient sentence for Kamronwit.

Don't understand your response. Chinese contracts?

[Manbing]

A judge in Thailand handed down 50 years for possession of yaba pills to a farang today.

It would be nice if a Japanese judge could reciprocate and show Thailand what Nipponese justice looks like from the other side?

Smuggling unregistered weapons onto an aircraft - potentially able to down the aircraft with that kind of firepower.

Far more dangerous than a bag of pills.

Lets hope the unfortunate Kamoronwit gets judge 'Maximum Hirohito' to preside over his day in court.

Edited July 1, 2015 by Manbing

[Soutpeel]

In related news, the Thai embassy in Tokyo has made an nationwide appeal for any Cambodian or Burmese nationals living in Japan to contact them

[timmyp]

Interrogation (but probably no forced admission of guilt like in RTP though), no family visits but only a visit from a lawyer and embassy staff, not understanding the language, being shown in TV as a common criminal before convicted, being locked up for days and as prosecution takes their time you are stuck there likely until July 13.

To make it worse it doesn't matter who you know or who you are, your lies - no matter how big they are - are not believed, your former colleagues can't buy you out of jail and there is no special treatment what so ever.

Oh, your own medicine must have such a bitter taste.

He is allowed daily visits during the 10-day period of the prosecutor's investigation, but the rules for those visits are that they must be monitored by an on-duty cop, and prisoners are required to speak Japanese during those visits (obviously he doesn't speak Japanese, so perhaps they will allow an exception for an interpreter during his visits, but I doubt it). You are right that a person being held is allowed to meet privately with the lawyer and the embassy.

The 10-day period will be extended for another 10 days, of course, so this will be his situation for 20 days.

Obviously his family can't visit him if they can't get a visa to Japan, and they wouldn't be allowed to speak to him in Thai during those visits, but the visits themselves are permitted.

[ezzra]

Japanese authorities are not stupid and corrupt as in other place we know so well,

and if this Lt. General think for a moment that he can rank and title his out of this mess.

he's got another thing coming... I foresee lost of Ramen and fish soups on his menu

for sometime to come, and if by miracle he will get out with a light punishment, it will be

because an enormous pressure was put on the prosecutors and the Japanese government....

[Jay Sata]

I guess the strict rules regarding visits and only Japanese spoken is to prevent collusion with his friends in concocting some sort of defence.

His old friend ex CID chief Pongpat has had an extra thre years added to his 36 stretch for receiving stollen property.

I am sure this has gone down well with the inmates in many Thai prisons.

[northernphil]

If he gets off scot free I presume it would mean that anyone here reading these comments would be allowed to go to Japan and bring back to LoS a loaded gun by plane.

[timmyp]

Japanese authorities are not stupid and corrupt as in other place we know so well,

and if this Lt. General think for a moment that he can rank and title his out of this mess.

he's got another thing coming... I foresee lost of Ramen and fish soups on his menu

for sometime to come, and if by miracle he will get out with a light punishment, it will be

because an enormous pressure was put on the prosecutors and the Japanese government....

If he gets out of it light, it's because the J gov or J corporations got a very nice deal on doing business in Thailand. I doubt Japan is going to buckle at pressure from Thailand, Japan has the chips to bargain with right now, and of course they are going to use them.

About the food:

He can get a nicer, larger bento for an addition 150 baht, with little fried goodies and some milk.

[dageurreotype]

I'll be sniggering to myself for a while if he gets sentenced and subsequently locked up. Although the longer the better, even a few months term would have me in a large smile.

'Arai wah? No moving to inactive posts here?'

[Acharn]

Any one get the impression that the Japanese authorities are professional, determined and ready to follow this through to the end where ever it may lead.

No. How long has he been under arrest, a week now? And the prosecutors are just now going to interrogate him to determine if he should be prosecuted? Something isn't right here. Even in the U.S. (although there are horrendous exceptions) prosecutors normally make the decision within a day or two after the arrest. I'm not counting the 16 year old kid who was kept in pretrial detention at Rikers Island for three years before the prosecutor realized he had no probable cause to charge the kid. Or the hundreds (thousands?) of cases of poor people who are held for months because they can't make bail.

Something is going on here besides the charges that are being talked about. He has to have done something to offend a powerful person in Japan.

[dageurreotype]

Any one get the impression that the Japanese authorities are professional, determined and ready to follow this through to the end where ever it may lead.

No. How long has he been under arrest, a week now? And the prosecutors are just now going to interrogate him to determine if he should be prosecuted? Something isn't right here. Even in the U.S. (although there are horrendous exceptions) prosecutors normally make the decision within a day or two after the arrest. I'm not counting the 16 year old kid who was kept in pretrial detention at Rikers Island for three years before the prosecutor realized he had no probable cause to charge the kid. Or the hundreds (thousands?) of cases of poor people who are held for months because they can't make bail.

Something is going on here besides the charges that are being talked about. He has to have done something to offend a powerful person in Japan.

You're letting your imagination run away with you. Japan's nothing like Thailand. Their idea of 'face' is built on 'honour', here, it's simply a get out clause.

Their original explanation for the delay was that it was difficult to translate into English and then, presumably, into Thai. I personally think, knowing Thailand's reputation of 'bigwigs' believing they can do whatever they like, they're just having some fun

[timmyp]

Any one get the impression that the Japanese authorities are professional, determined and ready to follow this through to the end where ever it may lead.

No. How long has he been under arrest, a week now? And the prosecutors are just now going to interrogate him to determine if he should be prosecuted? Something isn't right here. Even in the U.S. (although there are horrendous exceptions) prosecutors normally make the decision within a day or two after the arrest. I'm not counting the 16 year old kid who was kept in pretrial detention at Rikers Island for three years before the prosecutor realized he had no probable cause to charge the kid. Or the hundreds (thousands?) of cases of poor people who are held for months because they can't make bail.

Something is going on here besides the charges that are being talked about. He has to have done something to offend a powerful person in Japan.

Japan always does this for big cases.

They have 3 days to hold someone before officially arresting them. They will often wait until the 3rd day, even though the charges are clear (especially with foreigners).

The prosecutor then has 10 days to make a case. During this time, the suspect is interrogated by the detective assigned to the case, visiting the prosecutor now and then. The prosecutor can extend the investigation for 10 days, which they often do in big cases. No need to rush. They already said that Kamronwit will be held for 20 days, and that means that the prosecutor has already decided to extend that investigation period. 20 days is totally, totally normal. And so is re-arresting someone after that for other crimes, then repeating the 20 day cycle again.

Everything is proceeding as one would expect. As for what kind of deals are being made behind the scenes, who knows. Of course Japan wants to "save face" as well, they need to send a message about their laws and guns in the airport. Surely Japan will do something to show that foreigners better take J law seriously. Behind the scenes, they will get some big business contracts inside Thailand. This is a good opportunity for them to do so, and I'm sure the people bargaining for Kamronwit will be bargaining with such contracts.

[oneday]

It's wonderful to see the Japanese are not backing down.