Man let off in Khok Wua arms appeal
A man convicted and jailed for conspiring to carry arms during a clash between security forces and red-shirt demonstrators at Khok Wua intersection in Bangkok on April 10, 2010 has been acquitted in another case concerning the discovery of a car packed with explosives in the Ram Intra area a month later.
Kittisak Soomsri, a 49-year-old Bangkok resident, and an accomplice were sentenced to 10 years in jail by the Criminal Court on Jan 31 for colluding to carry the weapons at Khok Wua intersection during the military crackdown on the red-shirt demonstrators, which led to the deaths of five soldiers and 21 civilians.
Kittisak was also indicted for colluding to possess explosives, firearms and ammunition found in a Honda Civic at an apartment on Ram Intra Road on May 14, 2010. Following a tip off, officers from Khokkram station discovered C-4, TNT, gunpowder, molotov cocktails, fire extinguishers containing urea fertiliser as well as an AK-47 assault rifle and rounds of ammunition.
On June 14 last year, the lower court acquitted Kittisak, saying a witness, the apartment’s caretaker, delivered conflicting accounts. DNA evidence taken from Kittsak did not match evidence from the scene and the plaintiff’s testimony was insufficient to incriminate him.
Prosecutors later appealed against the ruling. The Appeal Court agreed with the lower court ruling, saying the plaintiff’s evidence was not substantial enough. Speaking later, Kittisak’s lawyer, Winyat Chartmontri, said attempts were made to link the car case to a group of armed people, the so-called “men in black”, accused of using weapons against security officers at Khok Wua intersection.
Plaintiff witnesses claimed Kittisak carried explosives as part of the “men in black” operation, he said, adding as the court yesterday acquitted Kittisak, the ruling could be incorporated in an appeal against the court’s ruling in the “men in black” case. Meanwhile, he would ask prosecutors on Monday about progress in the case against leaders of the former People’s Democratic Reform Committee, which held monthslong mass rallies against the government of Yingluck Shinawatra.