The high-profile case of former teacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot, who was released last year by royal pardon after she was sentenced and jailed for a hit-and-run killing in 2015, has taken a new twist after a senior police officer insisted yesterday that the teacher really committed the crime.
Police Inspector-General Pol General Panya Mamen said in a press conference in Nakhon Phanom province that a reinvestigation into the case reaffirmed that Jomsap drove the pickup truck that hit and killed a man in the province in 2015.
Panya alleged that a group of people were assigned to systematically set up evidence in order to persuade others that the teacher was the victim of a miscarriage of justice.
Panya said police were now investigating the man who allegedly confessed to driving the car that killed the cyclist.
He said the confirmation that Jomsap committed the crime was the result of a reinvestigation into the case by several police teams who visited the scene of the crime and re-examined the documents involved.
Meanwhile a witness testimony session for Jomsap’s case at Nakhon Phanom Provincial Court, scheduled for yesterday, was postponed to February 8-10 after Jomsap’s witnesses, including the alleged “real culprit”, a Mukdahan man, and a female witness failed to show up, an informed source at the court said.
The information from the session – where prosecutors intended to interview eight more witnesses – would be submitted for the Supreme Court’s consideration if it could be regarded as new evidence that might pave the way for reopening of the case and a retrial.
After the meeting with the court judge, Jomsap briefly thanked sympathisers and media members before she was led away by relatives.
Meanwhile, Buri Ram-based teacher association president Prayat Warong said that he hoped Jomsap, who lost her freedom despite being reportedly innocent, would get justice and be reinstated as a teacher.
The Prime Minister yesterday said that if the ongoing probe confirmed that the former teacher was innocent, she would be provided with remedial measures.
It seems highly likely that there will be a number of twists and turns in this case before the whole truth is established. Let us hope that a correct outcome means that justice can finally be done, whatever the result.
(Source: The Nation,Thailand)