Thursday, December 31, 2015

Where is Somchai? Where has he disappeared to?

On 12th March 2004, human rights lawyer, Somchai Neelapaijit was abducted in full daylight on one of the busiest streets in Bangkok. The irony is that the answers to the questions posed by his daughter Pratubjit are well known. But the evidence for his abduction, a record of telephone conversations between his abductors has been formally rejected by the Supreme Court on 29th December and the police charged with his abduction declared innocent.
The original computer records of the mobile telephone calls no longer exist, and the print out of the record was unsigned.
I was present in the Court at the original trial and saw the judge call a Court intermission while he consulted on the meaning of a type of evidence new to Thailand. The omission of a signature was surely negligent but why was it not remedied at the time of submission or before the Appeal hearing?

Water under the bridge: Justice failed and abductions continue. Government officials enjoy immunity and impunity to the extent that the very notion of justice is corrupted.

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