Witness body to be seized
Bid to end ‘public doubt’ in Boss case
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has instructed authorities to seize the body of a new witness in the “Boss” hitand-run case for a new autopsy to end public doubt about the circumstances of his death.
Deputy government spokeswoman Traisuree Taisaranakul said yesterday Gen Prayut’s decision to confiscate the body of Jaruchart Maadthong was to allow forensic officials to conduct an autopsy as the public questioned the timing of his death.
Jaruchart was killed in a two-motorcycle crash on Huay Kaew Road in Chiang Mai municipality on Thursday. The driver of the other motorcycle, Somchai Tawino, was injured.
Jaruchart and retired AM Jakkrit Thanomkulabutr were new witnesses brought into the case two years ago.
They testified that Vorayuth Yoovidhya was not driving at high speed and saw the motorcycle of Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert cut in front of his Ferrari on Sept 3, 2012.
Their testimony led to the closure of the high-profile case against the Red Bull scion after prosecutors in June dropped the last charge of fatal reckless driving.
Mr Somchai told Phuping Rajavinej police after the accident that he did not know Jaruchart.
But he later said the two first met while drinking at separate tables in a restaurant on the night, and were on their way to find another drinking spot when the accident happened.
Jaruchart lost control of his bike and fell, hitting his head on the road. His motorcycle hit the rear of the bike driven by Mr Somchai, police said after watching CCTV footage of the accident.
Pol Maj Gen Jiraphob Bhuridet, commander of the Crime Suppression Division (CSD), said that he had instructed officers at the CSD’s 4th sub-disivion to examine the scene of the accident, and check footage from all CCTV cameras along the road, and summon all witnesses for questioning.
The CSD has yet to determine the cause of the death or whether there was any hidden motive, Pol Maj Gen Jiraphob said.
The body of Jaruchart was due for cremation at his house in Phan district of Chiang Rai yesterday. His parents agreed to release the body for an autopsy after conducting the last religious ceremony for him.
Royal Thai Police deputy spokesman Kissana Phathanacharoen said yesterday the autopsy will be conducted at Maharaj Nakhon Chiang Mai Hospital of Chiang Mai University.
“The death of Jaruchart is unnatural, and there is public suspicion about it,” Pol Col Kissana said.
“Police are investigating two aspects of the case. One involves a traffic accident and the other is associated with an autopsy.
“Investigators are awaiting the result of the new autopsy and forensic evidence gathered from the scene.’’
Vicha Mahakhun, who was handpicked by the prime minister to chair an independent committee to examine the Vorayuth case, said he will ask Gen Prayut to provide protection for other witnesses in the Vorayuth case.
Mr Vicha also echoed the view that the death of Jaruchart was unnatural and requires an autopsy to allay public suspicion.
Mr Vicha said that the committee should complete its work within 30 days given by the prime minister, but the timeframe may not be enough if the committee has to come up with recommendations on how to improve the efficiency of the entire justice system.
He said the committee will provide the prime minister with an update on its progress every 10 days.
Mr Vicha said the justice system “has now deteriorated with benefits and powers coming into play”. Thailand’s justice system is “in need of an overhaul which has been long overdue”, said Mr Vicha, a former commissioner of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
Meanwhile, Pol Gen Satawat Hirunburana, chairman of a police panel on Mr Vorayuth’s case, said yesterday that he had sent officers to ask medical experts about the chemical substances found in the blood of Mr Vorayuth.
The information will be presented at the panel’s meeting today, he said.
There is an old Thai saying which goes along the lines of: “A dead elephant cannot be covered by lotus leaves.” But the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) seemed to believe its utterly shameful decision not to arraign Red Bull scion Vorayuth “Boss” Yoovidhya on the last outstanding charge of reckless driving causing death would remain a secret known only between them and the police.
They were dead wrong. Although without an inquisitive CNN correspondent in Thailand and a loose-tongued officer at Thong Lor police station who unwittingly let the skeleton out of the closet, the Thai public would have been kept in the dark like fools.
Yes, we have been treated like fools, with utter contempt by public prosecutors from the top down. Because the final decision to drop the charge had the rubber stamp of one of the deputy attorneys-general acting on behalf of the attorney-general, Wongsakul Kittipromwong, who coincidentally was on a field trip upcountry when his deputy endorsed the decision.
Unsurprisingly, the attorney-general was not around when one of his deputies signed an order not to appeal the acquittal verdict of the Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on Panthongtae “Oak” Shinawatra, former prime minister Thaksin’s only son, on a money laundering charge related to a 10 million baht fund transferred to his bank account by an executive of the Krisdamahanakorn group of companies.
All hell broke loose when CNN reported the explosive news. The public was angry and they are right to be so. Not because this was the first case where the law has been distorted by public prosecutors. But this time, the blatant abuse of the law by the prosecutors to help the alleged offender off the hook is simply too much for the people to swallow after seven years of dragging their feet on a simple road accident investigation, tossing the case back and forth between the police and prosecutors during which all other charges except one were dropped due to the expiry of their statutes of limitation.
The prosecutors in charge of the case based their decision to drop the last outstanding charge of reckless driving on new evidence from six witnesses, namely Jaruchart Maadthong, Pol Lt-Col Thanasit Daengjan, Pol Lt-Col Somyot Abniam, Pol Lt-Col Suraphol Detrattanavinai, Air Marshal Chakkrit Thanomkullaboot and Dr Saiprasit Kerdniyom.
Jaruchart, a key witness, testified a few days after the fatal hit-and-run accident, claiming he was driving a pickup truck behind Pol Acting Sub-Lt Wichian Klanprasert, the victim. He said he saw the policeman riding his motorbike in the left lane, cut in front of his car in the second lane, and the Ferrari driven by Mr Vorayuth in the third lane.
In his second appearance before the prosecutors on Dec 4 last year, he claimed he was driving at a speed of about 80 kph and assumed the Red Bull scion was driving at a speed of between 50-60 kph, not 177 kph as claimed by police forensic experts.
Air Marshal Chakkrit claimed he was travelling in Jaruchart’s pickup to a temple to make merit. An air force officer who reportedly operates a limousine service at an airport in Bangkok, travelling in the dead of the night in a pickup truck on a merit-making trip? It sounds like a cheap fairy tale, not to be taken seriously.
The car speed issue led to the entry into this long-running saga of Dr Saiprasit, an automotive safety and assessment expert of King Mongkut Institute of Technology (Bangkok North campus). He gave his opinion on the speed Mr Vorayuth’s car.
His calculation was the alleged offender was driving at a speed of about 76 kph which is below the 80 kph speed limit, not 177 kph as calculated by the police forensic experts.
In his second testimony given in 2016, Pol Lt-Col Thanasit reversed his earlier claim that Mr Vorayuth was driving at 177 kph, saying the actual speed was 79.23 in his new calculation.
Common sense will tell most of us to seek a third opinion. Yet the prosecutors chose to dump the old evidence and embrace the suspicious new evidence. Hence, the final decision to drop the charge on basis of force majeure and put all the blame on the dead police officer.
If they were confident that their judgement is right and credible, why didn’t they go public instead of hiding it from us?
When the heat grew more intense, the OAG set up a probe team to look into the case.
But what can the team offer as the OAG is no longer trustworthy in the eyes of the public?
That explains why Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha set up an independent panel, headed by Vicha Mahakhun, a former graft buster.
But the plot of this long-running saga has only thickened with the sudden death in a suspicious motorcycle accident in Chiang Mai of Jaruchart.
Chiang Mai police claimed it was just an ordinary accident but the public suspect otherwise.
Jaruchart was likely to be summoned by Mr Vicha’s panel for questioning because he was the key witness of the prosecutors and instrumental in their controversial decision to drop the charge.
The sheer mishandling of Mr Vorayuth’s case by the police and, especially, the OAG has shattered the credibility — if there ever was any — of the justice system in this country.
It is about time that the OAG was restructured from the inside out, and for the state to rein in their unchecked power of discretion mandated by Section 255 of the constitution, which has made several prosecutors feel as if they were a law unto themselves and not answerable to anyone, even the prime minister.
‘‘ If they were confident that their judgement is right and credible, why didn’t they go public?