Somchai ready to prove his innocence over PAD crackdown

The Supreme Court’s Criminal Division for Political Office Holders has scheduled the first hearing in the case for May 11.

Somchai and three other men have been charged with abusing their authority by ordering the crackdown on protesters surrounding Parliament, resulting in two deaths and 471 injuries.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) accused Somchai, his deputy General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, ex-police chief General Patcharawat Wongsuwan and ex-Bangkok police chief Lt-General Suchart Muankaew of violating provision 157 of the Criminal Code and Anti-Corruption Act 1999 and provisions 295 and 302 of the 2007 Charter.

The NACC said the four men ordered police to disperse the protesters who had laid siege to Parliament on October 7, 2008.

Somchai said he was confident he used his authority with integrity and did not abuse his power or commit any offences as alleged by the graft agency.

 He said the Office of the Attorney General had on October 9, 2012, resolved to drop the charges levelled against him and the Senate voted down the impeachment motion against him in March 2010.

He said he did not understand why the NACC still wanted to pursue the case when the Administrative Court had ruled that police who carried out their duty dispersing the protesters were not guilty of any crime. “As a member of the executive branch, I deserve justice in the case that the NACC has accused me,” he said.

Somchai said as an ex-judge, he believed that he would receive court justice even though the NACC had not done so.