UPDATE (Thailand): Third special call for observers to attend court hearings over missing human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit 

Dear friends,

The trial of five police officers in connection with the disappearance of prominent Thai human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit is again continuing in the Criminal Court in Bangkok on October 4, 5 & 6. These are the last witnesses being called by the public prosecutor, among them police investigators and other parties to the investigation stage of the inquiry, including those connected with the records of the defendants’ mobile phone usage.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is today making its third special call to all concerned groups and persons in Thailand to attend the trial as observers. Please refer to our first call for observers (UP-107-2005) for an explanation of the case and reasons that observers are very important in the court.

Some important practical information and details of recent developments is given below.

LOCATION & TIMES

The Criminal Court is located on Ratchadapisek Road, Ladprao, next to the Courts of Appeal and Civil Court. It is best reached by taxi or private vehicle; however, it is in walking distance of the Ladprao BTS station and busses run past the front of the building. The trial is ordinarily conducted in room 811, or another room on the 8th floor.

The morning session is scheduled to begin at 9am. The afternoon session is scheduled for 1:30pm. Each session runs around three hours. Occasionally testimonies are concluded by the end of the morning session.

KEY PERSONS IN THE COURT

Judge: Mr Suwit Pornpanich and two assistant judges

Accused (seated on the right of the court)
1. Police Major Ngern Tongsuk
2. Police Lieutenant Colonel Sinchai Nimbunkampong
3. Police Lance Corporal Chaiweng Paduang
4. Police Sergeant Rundorn Sithiket
5. Police Lieutenant Colonel Chadchai Leiamsa-ngoun

CHARGES

Coercion & gang robbery under sections 309 & 340 of the Penal Code of Thailand

RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN THE HEARINGS

September 20

In the morning, Pol. Maj-Gen Chuan Voravanich, head of the Crime Scientific Detection Division said that there was no forensic evidence in Somchai’s recovered car to link the defendants to the lawyer’s disappearance, but acknowledged that persons familiar with the work of forensic investigators may know how to remove such evidence.

[Police investigators were criticized in the media shortly after the abduction for having damaged potentially valuable forensic evidence by sitting in the car and otherwise interfering in the crime scene before forensic experts had an opportunity to do their work.]

Then the latest in a number of witnesses reversed or raised doubts about his testimony to police investigators earlier. Telephone records showed that Pol. Snr. Sgt-Maj. Vijak (a.k.a. Mongkol) Petsuwan, of the Crime Suppression Division, had made a phone call to Pol. Maj. Ngern after Somchai’s disappearance. In the initial investigation he said that he had made called Pol. Maj. Ngern on 13 & 15 March 2004. But in court he said that he was forced to say this by metropolitan police investigators at Bang Kho Laem police station on 3 June 2004. He said that he was threatened and told that if he did not cooperate he would be transferred to an inactive post. He said that he had left his telephone on his desk and another person could have used it. Pol. Snr Sgt-Maj. Vivak is believed to have had a connection to the investigation into some of the disappeared lawyer’s clients, who have alleged that they were tortured (see UP-107-2005).

At least two other key witnesses have partially retracted or reversed their testimonies before the court, casting doubts over the investigation process into the case, which was led by the metropolitan police. The senior-most lawyer for the defence has sought to paint the prosecution of his clients as a result of an internal conflict between different wings of the police force.

In addition to the above witnesses, two other police officers testified before the court as their phone numbers had come up on records of phones belonging to the defendants. However, neither of them testified that they knew anything about the defendants’ whereabouts or other details of the case.

September 21-23

The metropolitan police investigator responsible for researching the defendant’s telephone records, Pol. Maj. Thinnakorn Kesornbua, took the stand. In his testimony he indicated that telephone records showed that the five accused had called one another 75 times in the hours before the disappearance of Somchai on 12 March 2004. By contrast, they had called one another only rarely in the days before that and the days after that. The calls were also made from areas close to where Somchai was known to have been at the time, said Pol. Maj. Thinnakorn. After Somchai’s car was found on March 16 the number of calls between the five suddenly increased again to more than 30. The defence lawyers again probed the testimony of the witness seeking to demonstrate that his investigation was motivated by a conflict among members of the police force, they also sought to show that the defendants had legitimate reasons for being in those areas, including that the wife of one of them had had a child at a nearby hospital.

SUBSEQUENT HEARINGS

On October 18 to 21 the joint prosecutor representing the wife of the victim, Ms Angkhana Neelaphaijit, will present his witnesses. Subsequently, the defence will call witnesses in a series of hearings that will continue to January.

FURTHER BACKGROUND TO THE CASE

The AHRC has released copious material speaking to the importance of the disappearance of Somchai Neelaphaijit. Some of the recent appeals and updates include: UP-20-2005, UP-24-2005, UP-37-2005, UP-45-2005, UP-49-2005 and UP-89-2005.  A webpage compiling all information on the case will be made available shortly. In July, the sister organization of the AHRC, the Asian Legal Resource Centre, invited the wife of the missing human rights defender to attend the hearings on Thailand of the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva.

For additional information or inquiries regarding the case please contact the Urgent Appeals Desk of the AHRC.

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)