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| NEWS > 22 January 2007 |
Other related articles:
Police investigate spate of es
Eastern Cape police and correctional authorities are baffled by the high rate of suspects escaping from police custody, magistrate's courts and correctional centres in the province. Two months ago, 20 dangerous prisoners linked to cash-in-transit armed robberies managed to escape.
Police spokesperson, Zamukulungisa Jozana says they have identified some of the causes - corrupt officers were among the reasons cited.
Meanwhile the Centre for Security Studies says police and correctional services should be heavy- handed on corrupt officers. Centre director, Peter Gastrow, say... Read more
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 Article sourced from
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Bangkok Post - Klong Toey,Bang
22 January 2007
This article appeared in the above title/site.
To view it in its entirity click this link.
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Sonthi tells Kowit 'no scapego
Council for National Security (CNS) chairman Sonthi Boonyaratkalin yesterday warned police against arresting scapegoats for the New Year's Eve bombings, and said the national police chief would be held responsible for any mistakes in the investigation.
His comments came after 15 people were taken in for questioning by police on Saturday.
All suspects being detained have denied any involvement in the attacks.
The army chief made clear that national police chief Pol Gen Kowit Wattana would be held responsible if police file criminal charges against people innocent of the crimes.
Fifteen military officers and civilians were interrogated by the police after being detained in raids on 18 locations on Saturday.
Gen Sonthi said police needed to continue their investigations as there was still no "exact information" to conclude whether the 15 suspects were involved in the bombings.
"I have told the police to carry out their probe straightforwardly and to not use scapegoats," Gen Sonthi told reporters before he left for China yesterday.
The CNS chairman said he did not want to see the police repeat the same mistakes as the scandalous case of the murder of Sherry Ann Duncan some 20 years ago.
The case was a slap in the face for the Thai justice system, as four people were arrested and wrongly convicted for the August 1986 murder of the Thai-American teenager.
"That is a lesson," Gen Sonthi said. "If the investigation does not go straightforwardly this time, the national police chief must take responsibility."
Military officers are trying to ensure no mistakes are made and have ordered officers from the Judge Advocate-General's Department to accompany police when questioning detainees, First Army Region commander Lt-Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said.
Interrogations were led by assistant national police chief Pol Lt-Gen Panupong Singhara na Ayutthaya.
Police have already gathered evidence, including from the place where they believe the bombs were made, and have records of irregular mobile phone usage by suspects, a police source said.
Police believe the bombs were put together by soldiers at a radio station in Lob Buri, following orders from "someone" who probably had a conflict with the CNS, the source said.
The police also found some suspects had been in frequent contact with each other over mobile phone in the month leading up to the Dec 31 attacks, even though they had never talked to one another before, the source added.
However, a military source said the CNS was not fully confident in the police investigation as Pol Lt-Gen Panupong and his colleagues had worked with the previous government for five years.
This could distort their investigation and eventually lead to the conclusion that the CNS masterminded the bombings itself, the source said.
The military leaders are keeping a close eye on the Panupong-led investigation and have already set up their own investigation team made up of representatives from the army, the Department of Special Investigation, and the Judge Advocate-General's Department, the source added.
Pol Lt-Gen Panupong's team suspect the 15 people arrested on Saturday might also have been involved in the attempted assassination of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra in August last year when police discovered a car bomb near his house on Charan Sanitwong road.
But Gen Sonthi said there were a lot more suspects on the list that needed to be investigated.
Soldiers were not the only suspects, he said, adding "officers in all four colours," need to be put under close watch, in reference to the rest of the armed forces and the police.
If the perpetrators of the bomb attacks are brought to justice, they could face the death sentence as their actions were carried out during the time of martial law, he said.
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