Outpouring of grief for Thai judge
THERE was an outpouring of grief and respect for a Thai judge who shot himself in the torso in front of a packed court after acquitting several murder suspects and decrying Thailand’s judicial system in an impassioned speech broadcast on Facebook Live.
The Nation reported that residents turned up in front of Yala Provincial Court over the weekend to place flowers and leave messages for Judge Khanakorn Pianchana.
The newspaper quoted one card as saying “Return a verdict to the judge, return justice to the people” – the final line in Pianchana’s 25-page statement shared on Facebook before he tried to take his own life.
Thai netizens have since Friday been debating and sharing news reports about the shocking event.
Critics say Thailand’s courts often work in favour of the rich and powerful, while delivering swift and harsh sentences on ordinary people for minor offences. But it is virtually unheard of for judges to criticise the system.
The Nation reported that local media outlets had suggested that before shooting himself, Khanakorn had posted on his Facebook page that his supervisors were allegedly trying to influence his judgement in the criminal case.
The post was later removed. Social media, however, has laid hands on and widely shared a 25-page statement supposedly posted on Facebook by Khanakorn.
The statement reveals that the case Khanakorn was hearing related to national security and was linked to secret associations, conspiracy and gun-law offences.
The document allegedly described disagreements among senior judges over the ruling and Khanakorn’s reported decision to acquit all five defendants.
Khanakorn Pianchana, a judge at
Yala court in t he heart of t he i nsu r genc y-bat tere d T ha i sout h, was del iver i ng t he verdict for f ive Muslim suspects in a gun murder case on Friday afternoon.
He acqu it ted t he g roup, delivered a courtroom plea for a cleaner justice system, before pulling out a handgun and shooting himself in the torso.
“You need clear and credi ble e v idenc e t o pu n i s h someone. So i f you’re not sure, don’t punish them,” the judge sa id add ressi ng t he court a nd broadcasting his word s on h i s phone on Facebook live.
“I’m not saying that the five defenda nt s d id n’t commit the crimes, they might have done so.
“But t he judicia l process needs to be transparent and credible . . . punishing wrong p e o p l e m a k e s t h e m scapegoats.”
The Facebook feed t hen cut, but witnesses said Kanakorn recited a lega l oat h in f r ont of t he for mer T ha i king’s portrait, before shooting himself in t he chest.
“He is being treated by the doctors and is out of danger,” Suriyan Hongvilai, the spokesman of the Office of the Judiciary, said on Saturday.
“He shot himself because of ‘persona l st ress’. But t he cause behind the stress is not clear and will be investigated,” he claimed.
Unprecedented
No T ha i judge ha s ever breached protocol by making similar statements on the w ider j u s t ic e s y stem, he added.
A law yer working with the suspects sa id Judge Ka nakorn had ruled the prosecutor’s ev idence was i nsuf f icient to conv ict.
“Right now t he f ive are still b e i ng det a i ne d a nd a r e wa it i ng to see i f t he st ate pr os e c utor a ppea l s t hei r acquitta l,” Abdulloh Hayeeabu, of the Muslim Attorney Centre in Yala said.
Over 7,0 0 0 people have died in 15 years of conf lict in the Malay-Muslim majorit y sout hern region.
T hou s a nd s of s u s pe c t s have been ja i led for ac t s l i n ked to t he i nsu r genc y, many under emergency laws i mpose d on t he r e s t i v e region.
Advocac y g roups i n t he Thai south have long accused securit y forces of trumping up charges against Muslim suspect s a nd usi ng emergenc y l aws to d r ive ca ses t hroug h t he cou r t s.