When police put innocents in jail: 20,000 volunteers to help

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"The main problem with the criminal justice system is the law enforcement officers... The laws themselves are generally okay."

Prison guard looks through grating at prisoners sitting on ground.

LAW

Former contractor crusades against wrongful convictions

Citizen group delves into cold cases, securing rare justice for some 100 unfairly accused
29/09/2014
Patsara Jikkham

In recent years, the problem of wrongful convictions and miscarriages of justice has become an accepted reality in the Thai justice system.

Several people have spent years in prison after wrongful convictions, while many who feel they are being made scapegoats in criminal cases are calling on the public to help monitor the work of investigators.

Autchariya Ruangrattanapong, president of a group formed to help them, decided to take on some of the complaints after being contacted by around 500 convicts.

His organisation, set up in 2009, has helped about 100 people out of the 500 cases it has taken on.

It gives priority to potential scapegoats who face jail terms. A victim must have no criminal record, said Mr Autchariya, a former contractor.

"An innocent who is abused and jailed is in agony," he said. "When a family member is locked up, everyone suffers."

He said people often fall victim to bad police work, with cases lacking strong evidence and witnesses. Some officers have been careless in their investigations, he said.

Mr Autchariya says he, too, has been treated unfairly by law enforcement officers.

As an apartment construction contractor in Pathum Thani, he said he was deceived by a residential project developer into working on a project in 2009. He was never paid as promised, so he and his team abandoned the project.

He said he was accused of encroaching upon the developer's site and damaging its property. He claims the investigators never questioned him but police produced false evidence to bring a legal case against him.

The developer had connections with the investigators, he says.

"Bail was set at 100,000 baht," Mr Autchariya said. "I struggled to borrow money to pay for it. If I couldn't find the money, I was looking at spending a year in jail."

He fought the lawsuit, but found the case was taking up too much of his time. Eventually he had to close his business.

But in that time, he learned about the law. Later, the court acquitted him. X

He said the injustice of authorities inspired him to set up his organisation.

"I am sympathetic to people who are treated unfairly by officers. I know what that's like. I want to help them," Mr Autchariya said.

He said about 80% of the complaints concern drugs cases. But he says he checks the backgrounds of the people he helps to ensure they have no criminal record.

The club has more than 20,000 volunteers working on cases nationwide, he said.

"We take great pride in helping people in trouble. I fulfill myself by helping people," he said.

Mr Autchariya says that he has spent more than one million baht on his mission and there's always a risk of being sued for his work.

He admitted the club has faced many problems.

One of the main issues is the club's representatives need to look up case records — documents that police officers are not always keen to provide.

Poor and less-educated people are especially vulnerable to mistreatment by police, Mr Autchariya says. The problem is especially dire in Chaiyaphum province, he said. X

In one case he cited, a handicapped woman there was forced by her husband to accuse several men of raping her so he could extort money from them.

The men refused to give her money, so she went to the police and lodged rape complaints against them.

Following the complaints, at least nine men were detained in Chiayaphum provincial prison.

Four were released after the couple was charged. The wife has allegedly confessed she was threatened by her husband with violence if she did not follow his plan.

He said some state officers detain suspects without charging them during the course of the investigation.

In this Chaiyaphum case, however, police officers asked the court to run an emergency probe, and the four cleared men were not detained for long.

He said the club is working with state departments to ask the court to push emergency investigations into the five other victims.

Generally, law enforcement is neither fair nor effective, he said. X

"One law is for the rich, another is for the poor," he said. "The poor cannot depend upon the criminal justice system to uphold human rights," he said.

The main problem with the criminal justice system is the law enforcement officers, he said. The laws themselves are generally okay.

Mr Autchariya said he agrees with the National Council for Peace and Order's decision to reform the justice system.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/434872/former-contractor-crusades-against-wrongful-convictions