Court to consider fresh Arisman plea for bail
The Criminal Court is scheduled today to reconsider releasing red-shirt Arisman Pongruangrong after he explains why he had to hide from the law for more than a year before surrendering last week.
His escape and the severe sentence at stake were the two critical factors for the court’s first rejection of his bail bid.
Arisman’s lawyers yesterday applied for another review of his request for temporary release and raised the offer of bail to Bt4 million cash.
Arisman’s wife Rapeepan also proposed her position as a Pheu Thai MP to guarantee her husband’s compliance with bail.
Arisman was remanded on Wednesday pending trial on terrorism charges related to last year’s political chaos, in which he reportedly had a leading role.
He left the country for Cambodia following the May 19 crackdown on the red-shirt rally at Ratchaprasong Intersection.
Defence lawyer Wasuthep Sisoda said the bail application cited a threat on Arisman’s life as the reason why he had to flee and live the life of a fugitive for more than a year.
Wasuthep said Arisman was a victim of intimidation. A gang had tried to assault him at Chiang Rai International Airport in 2009 and unidentified men had stalked him, triggering a fear for his life, he said.
In the latest incident in May 2010, police fired teargas canisters and smoke bombs in an attempt to arrest him inside a hotel in Bangkok.
The bail application covers three cases. The cash would serve as surety for the terrorism case and Rapeepan’s MP status for two libel cases.
Arisman has been sued for allegedly defaming then prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and Pol Maj General Amnuay Nimmano in connection with the political mayhem.
