In a last-minute attempt to delay the reading of the Supreme Court’s verdict, scheduled on Monday, former director-general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Tarit Pengdit, submitted a petition yesterday (Friday), through the Supreme Court to the Constitutional Court, seeking a ruling on the constitutionality of Sections 157 and 200 of the Criminal Code.
Citing Section 212 of the Constitution, Tarit claimed that the court must forward his petition to the Charter Court for consideration, as he warned that, if the Supreme Court upholds the Appeals Court’s guilty verdict, it will effectively “whitewash” the 2010 bloody crackdown against red-shirt protesters, ordered by former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban.
Tarit spoke at length about the case against Abhisit and Suthep at a meeting today with relatives of 99 red-shirt protesters killed and relatives of about 2,000 protesters injured during the crackdown.
The red shirt movement, formally called the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, had staged a prolonged protest, aiming to topple the Abhisit government of the day. The protests turned violent, leading to clashes between protesters, some of them armed, and government forces.
Abhisit and Suthep were acquitted of any wrongdoing by the Supreme Court in 2017. Tarit and three DSI officials were acquitted of malfeasance in judicial office by the Criminal Court, but found guilty and sentenced to two years each by the Appeals Court. The case awaits the Supreme Court’s verdict.
The former DSI chief likened the crackdown on the, protesters ordered by Abhisit and Suthep, to a “shoot to kill” order, which is against Sections 288 and 289 of the Criminal Code.
He defended his filing of murder charges against Abhisit and Suthep as the legitimate upholding of justice for the victims of the crackdown. Instead, he said he and some DSI officials were charged in accordance with Sections 157 and 200 of the Criminal Code.
“If officials who perform their duties honestly are charged and prosecuted for malfeasance in office, it may set a negative precedent,” said Tarit.
The former DSI chief also defended his ten successful attempts to postpone the reading of the Supreme Court’s verdict, saying that he was sick and could not attend the hearings.
He said he wants the Supreme Court to restore justice to the innocent people killed and wounded during the bloody crackdown and to himself and officials who performed their duties honestly in enforcing the law.
Asked what he expects to happen on Monday, Tarit said the Criminal Court may go ahead with reading the Supreme Court’s verdict, in which case he may be found guilty and sent to jail to serve his term. Alternatively, the Criminal Court may delay the reading of the verdict, pending a ruling from the Constitutional Court.
