Appeals Court overturns conviction of 'RPG cop'

During the ruling, Court of Appeals judges said that according to two prosecution witnesses, Bunthit Sitthithum, a member of the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship, was said to be sitting in two different places in a pick-up truck that was used to launch the grenades near the Defence Ministry on the night of March 20, 2010. Two other prosecution witnesses also gave conflicting testimony, with one claiming that Bunthit was wearing a cap, while the other said he wasn’t.

Though the defendant’s latent fingerprints were found in the vehicle, other evidence did not show that he was in the vehicle on the night before the incident. 

The Court of Appeals acquitted Bunthit of all charges involving the rocket-propelled grenade attacks, but ruled that he be detained and all weapons and explosives found in the vehicle be confiscated.

The Criminal Court initially sentenced Bunthit on December 13, 2011 to a 38-year prison sentence after finding him guilty of attempting to fire two RPG rounds at the Defence Ministry. The first round hit a telephone cable, wounding a bystander, before Bunthit allegedly fled on foot. 

A large number of war weapons and explosives were also found in the vehicle, which sustained damage from the recoil of the RPG launcher.

 

Defendant backs bill

Speaking at the court upon learning of yesterday's ruling, Bunthit said he believed that it would be difficult for the amnesty bill – now undergoing parliamentary scrutiny – to pass. He said the bill would be acceptable even if it pardoned opposition leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, as it would bring peace and reconciliation.

Meanwhile, in response to a judicial inquest ruling that five of the six people killed in Wat Pathum Wanaram were shot by soldiers, Army commander in chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the inquest had been undertaken without the Army being called in to give any evidence. “The Army has not yet been a defendant in the entire process,” he added.

The deaths at Wat Pathum Wanaram occurred in the final phase of the government crackdown on the red-shirt protest in 2010.