3 detained on lese majeste charges (Updated Thursday)

Police have now won court approval to detain three suspects, one the famous fortune-teller Mor Yong, for lese majesty and other offences for 12 days. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has given his full support to the crackdown.

SMARTPHONE AND TABLET USERS: To use our audio files and see our vocabulary aids, photos and videos, you can change the view to our "desktop site". You will find the link at the bottom of the mobile version page.

Please join us on our Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/bangkokpostlearning

Thursday morning update

We've been following this story for three days now, so here is a short overview, followed by a list of some of the new facts from today's story in the Bangkok Post which you can read in full here: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/738476/three-lese-majeste-suspects-charged.

Three lese majeste suspects charged

Detention follows govt crackdown pledge

POST REPORTERS

Three suspects who allegedly violated the lese majeste law have been charged and detained at the Bangkok Military Court, following the government's vow to crack down on offenders.

Assistant national police chief Pol Lt Gen Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said Wednesday that the three suspects were taken by police to the military court for a 12-day detention period after they were handed over by soldiers.

The Bangkok Military Court approved arrest warrants for the three suspects, who have been charged with lese majeste offences under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, Pol Lt Gen Srivara said.

The three were identified as Suriyan Sucharitpolwong, a fortune-teller also known as Mor Yong; Jirawong Watthanathewasilp, who is Mr Suriyan's adviser; and Pol Maj Prakrom Warunprapa, the police chief said.

The three suspects have admitted to the charges, Pol Lt Gen Srivara said, adding they were found to have committed lese majeste offences over the past two months

Pol Maj Pakrom has also been charged with possession of unlicensed weapons, he said.

New information

1. National police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda said an investigation confirmed that the suspects had cited the monarchy to obtain benefits.

2. He also said authorities were questioning eight police officers attached to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), who were transferred to inactive posts on Sunday, to determine whether they violated Section 112.

3. Pol Gen Chakthip said he had signed an order suspending Pol Maj Pakrom from duty, pending an investigation.

4. Mr Suriyan, 53, is from Trang and has built up a reputation as a top fortune teller over 30 years.

5. Pol Maj Prakrom was earlier suspended from duty following an accusation that he forged the signature of the late Supreme Patriarch.

However, he was later cleared of the charge after prosecutors decided not to indict him. He also received legal rehabilitation.

On Jan 22, the Police Commission, chaired by Gen Prawit, decided to reinstate Pol Maj Prakrom to the police force and he was given a job at the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD).

Pol Maj Prakrom was also tasked with gathering evidence in investigating the criminal case against former CIB chief Pongpat Chayaphan, whose criminal network was brought down late last year.

Wednesday evening update

I'll have more details tomorrow morning, but here is a brief evening update from our online reporters:

The Bangkok Military Court has approved a police request to detain three people accused of lese majeste – two civilians and one police officer – for 12 days between until Nov 1 for further questioning.

The three – Suriyan Sujaritpolwong, 53, alias Mor Yong, a well-known fortune teller, Jirawong Wattanathewasilp, 39, Mr Suriyan's aide, and Pol Maj Prakrom Warunprapha, 44, an officer of the Technology Crime Suppression Division's Sub-Division 1 – were brought to the Bangkok Military Court at about 3.30pm.

According to a National Council for Peace and Order press release, acting on NCPO Order 3/2015 the military took the three into its custody on receiving reports that a group of persons had, on various occasions, cited the royal institution to other people for ill-gotten gains in violation of Section 112 of the Criminal Code, or the lese majeste law. 

The three were also reported to have committed other legal offences which could cause damage to the royal institution.

From a preliminary investigation, there were grounds to believed they had committed the offences as reported.

Maj Gen Wicharn Jottaeng, chief of the NCPO's legal affairs section, subsequently filed a police complaint against the three for lese majeste.

As requested by the police, the Bangkok Military Court approved warrants for their arrest on Oct 18.

From subsequent enquiries, the committee decided to charge Mr Suriyan and Mr Jirawong with lese majeste, and Pol Maj Prakrom with illegal possession of unauthorised weapons and telecommunications radio, falsifying documents and using falsified documents, and lese majeste.

Mr Suriyan had allegedly confessed to the charges, but Mr Jirawong and Pol Maj Prakrom denied them.

The three were brought to the Bangkok Military Court on Wednesday to seek approval for the police to further detain them for a period of 12 days between Oct 21 and Nov 1.

15:25

Police have now taken three suspects in to the Military Court to request permission to detain them for the first period of twelve days. One of them, as expected, was well-known fortune-teller Mor Yong. Another was a close associate. The third is a policeman. The suspects were arrested at the request of the military.  Security was is extremely tight

Noon update

Thai PBS reports that police have already detained an unspecified number of lese majeste suspects and are preparing to bring them to the Military Court about 2pm for formal approval to keep them in detention.

Audio follows full text

PM supports lese majeste crackdown

Police to act on arrest warrants today

POST REPORTERS

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has vowed to crack down on people who violate the lese majeste law, saying they are destroying the country in a bid for "unlimited democracy".

Gen Prayut said legal action will be taken against offenders under Section 112 of the Criminal Code.

The premier's vow came after arrest warrants were reportedly issued for people who have allegedly committed lese majeste offences recently.

Police chief Chakthip Chaijinda confirmed Tuesday that the arrest warrants are for police officers and civilians.

"Did they violate the law? If so, arrest warrants have to be issued for them. That's it," said Gen Prayut.

Gen Prayut added that even though several websites with lese majeste content had been shut down and numerous convicts given royal pardons, people still dishonour the royal institution.

"I don't understand what bad things the monarchy has done to them. These people have always destroyed history and the goodness of the country to pave the way to unlimited democracy.

"Why does the public pay so much attention to this issue? Actually, I don't want lese majeste cases to become newspaper headlines. If offenders are accused of violating the lese majeste law, they have to fight it in court," he said.

Meanwhile, Pol Gen Chakthip said officers will seek approval from the Bangkok Military Court to arrest and detain the suspects today.

He said an investigation found that all of them had cited the monarchy to obtain benefits.

Pol Gen Chakthip added that details of the investigation will be handed over by the Royal Thai Police (RTP) soon.

He declined to disclose the names and total number of suspects but admitted that some are well-known.

Aside from the lese majeste charges, other charges under the Criminal Code will be also brought against offenders, Pol Gen Chakthip said.

Their assets are now being examined by the authorities, he added.

A source at the RTP said the lese majeste charges could be against as many as 10 people.

Pol Gen Chakthip said authorities are also questioning the eight police officers attached to the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), who were transferred to inactive posts on Sunday, to determine whether they violated Section 112.

Court dismisses lese majeste case

In another development, the Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a lese majeste case against Noppawan Tang-udomsuk who allegedly posted lese majeste messages on a website.

The court ruled that the prosecution's evidence was questionable, and dismissed the case.

Ms Noppawan was not in court to hear the ruling.

The prosecution initially indicted Ms Noppawan in the Criminal Court on charges of insulting the monarchy and violating the Computer Crimes Act.

The charges came after she allegedly posted messages deemed to be offensive to the monarchy on the website www.prachatai.com on Oct 15, 2008.

The lower court had also dismissed the charges.

It ruled that the IP address and the telephone number used to connect to the internet to post the messages were not clearly identified as belonging to Ms Noppawan and there were no witnesses or evidence proving the defendant posted the messages.

Tuesday's story

Police launch lese majeste hunt

POST REPORTERS

A police investigation is under way into a group of people accused of violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code, better known as the lese majeste law, a chief investigator says.

Assistant police chief Pol Lt Gen Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said the probe follows a complaint lodged by the military, and warrants for the arrest of the group members have been approved by a court.

Pol Lt Gen Srivara, who was appointed the head of a 19-member police committee investigating the alleged lese majeste offences, said the details are expected to be made public tomorrow when authorities seek to detain the suspects.

He declined to say how many people have been charged or are being investigated.

The Srivara committee was appointed by national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda on Friday.

Also on the committee is Central Investigation Bureau (CIB) commissioner Thitiraj Nhongharnpitak who was named deputy head of the team comprising high-level officers from various police units.

The committee is required to wrap up the investigation as soon as possible and is authorised to extend the probe if more people are found to have been involved in the offences.

The committee will report the results of the probe to the Royal Thai Police.

Police refused to name the people being investigated.

สามารถฝึกอ่านออกเสียงและดูคำแปลได้ที่ : http://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/learning-from-news/736384/new-lese-majeste-arrests-start-tomorrow