The Lawyer’s Council has stepped in to help the families of the 14 people who are believed to have died from cyanide poisoning, allegedly administered by pregnant suspect Sararat Rangsiwuthaporn.

The Lawyer’s Council president, Wichien Chubthaisong, said today (Tuesday) that the families of the victims had sought legal help and lawyers have been assigned to handle their cases, including the possibility of joining the prosecutors in filing charges against the suspect.

He said a working committee will be set up to coordinate with the police and toxicology experts to study the cases, adding that any civil litigation seeking compensation from the suspect would be a separate issue, but the council is ready to help, free of charge, if the victims’ families wish to proceed.

The council’s vice president for information technology, Veerasak Chotiwanich, offered an assurance that a pregnant suspect or defendant will be spared the death sentence, with the maximum sentence being life imprisonment.

He also said, however, by the time the final verdict and sentence are delivered, the suspect may have already given birth and would no longer be pregnant.

Meanwhile, Sanyapatchara Samart, vice president for operations, urged police to enforce a provision of the Criminal Procedural Code, requiring an autopsy to be conducted on every unnatural death, except on those who have been executed by the state.

Unnatural deaths include suicide, murder, accidents, attack by animals or death from unknown causes.

He said that an autopsy report is important forensic evidence, which can be very useful in a criminal case.