Appeal Court upholds Bt133,400-fine against garbage collector for selling CDs
Play
The Appeal Court Tuesday upheld the lower court's sentence to fine a Bangkok's Saphan Sung district garbage collector at Bt133,400 for selling copyright 83 movie VCDs and 13 music CDs.
The Appeal Court was convinced the items, still have covers and wrapped in plastic, weren't from trash as the man claimed but from a VCD-making source and ruled that the given sentence was the lightest - as the usual punishment for this offend was Bt200,000-Bt1 million - thus upheld the sentence.
The 26-year-old defendant Surat Maeenopparatsuda was apprehended by Hua Mark police on December 16, 2008, while he was manning a roadside stall selling items including the VCDs and CDs at Bt20 each in a weekend market of Bang Kapi district, and he failed to present the permit.
The lower court found him guilty and fined him initially at Bt200,100 before deducting that to Bt133,400 due to his useful confession, which if he wasn't able to pay, he would have to serve time in jail for up to one year.
The Nation
