So another call for a retrial emerges as four teachers claim they were wrongly convicted for giving false evidence at a murder trial in which a colleague was acquitted.
The four ex-teachers of Nong Khai’s Bung Khlong Lhong School met with the deputy permanent secretary for the Justice Ministry yesterday.
It emerged that the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) was already working on the case to provide them with justice.
The four testified in the murder trial of school director Chusak Sutthasri, who was eventually acquitted in 2014. The case centred on the fatal shooting of teacher Pethai Amatrattana during a party on March 3, 2009.
The testimony of the four teachers contributed to Chusak’s acquittal.
However, the case investigator filed charges against the four teachers in 2013 for giving false information to authorities and destroying evidence and they were each sentenced to four years in jail in 2015.
They served only 22 months as their sentences were reduced by royal pardons until their release last December.
During their time in prison, the teachers tried to appeal their sentences but their petitions were denied.
They are now seeking a retrial to prove their innocence, hoping to be reinstated by the Education Ministry so they can return to teaching.
The four women attended the party at the school’s infirmary when Pethai, a music teacher, was shot dead. They later disposed of alcohol bottles and glasses out of fear of disciplinary action for drinking alcohol at a state office.
A request by the DSI for a retrial last November was turned down on the grounds that there was not any new evidence, a source at the ministry said yesterday.
The DSI probe, which lasted for more than a year, found that a gunman was hired by an unknown person to kill Chusak but instead shot Pethai by mistake, because he wore the same colour shirt and happened to sit in Chusak’s designated place.
During their time behind bars, they taught fellow inmates an informal curriculum until graduation, which entitled them to sentence reductions.
As the Justice Ministry has begun to assist them in their case, the Education Ministry – which initially fired them from the civil service due to the criminal convictions – has changed the order, which means they are now entitled to retirement pensions.
It is highly unlikely that this is the last case that the DSI unearths that suggests there may have been a miscarriage of justice. Any justice system doesn’t get it right all the time but here there is a distinct possibility that the number of times convictions did not come under the “beyond all reasonable doubt” umbrella could be quite high.
(Source: The Nation,Thailand)