The mother of convicted police officer Thitisan Uttanaphon, aka “Joe Ferrari”, has asked the court for the withdrawal of an appeal against her son’s conviction, claiming that her son has repented for the crime he committed and is ready to face the prison term.
Responding to the move, lawyer Sittra Biabungkerd said in his Facebook post today (Thursday) that he does not believe that the former superintendent of Nakhon Sawan’s Muang district police had actually repented, claiming that he had received a threat on his life last month.
Sittra publicly exposed a video, leaked by a police whistleblower, showing Thitisan and his subordinates using several plastic bags to cover the head of drug suspect Jirapong Thanapat during an interrogation at the police station on August 5th last year. The victim fell unconscious and was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy later showed he died of suffocation.
Thitisan and six subordinates were later arrested and charged for causing the death of Jirapong by torture.
On June 8th, Thitisan and five of his subordinates were sentenced to life by the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases. The seventh officer was given five years and four months.
Sittra further said that the move to withdraw the appeal was a process which may lead to Thitisan being granted a royal pardon, which would reduce his actual prison term to just 5-7 years from life.
