Prosecutors take Joe Ferrari, 6 cops to criminal court
Public prosecutors have submitted the case against Pol Colonel Thitisan Uthanapol and his six subordinates at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases on Monday.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) spokesman Itthiphon Kaewthip said the seven have been charged with malfeasance, abuse of authority, torture resulting in death and coercion.
Itthiphon added that the OAG is urging the court to deny all bail requests as this is a serious case and closely watched by the public.
“The suspects should not be granted bail as they could escape or tamper with evidence,” he said. “The OAG is confident that the submitted documents provide enough details to prosecute the suspects on all charges, especially torture resulting in death, which carries a death sentence.”
Former Nakhon Sawan Police Station chief Thitisan, 30, and six of his subordinates were accused of suffocating 24-year-old drug suspect Chiraphong Thanapat on August 5 while trying to extort 2 million baht from him.
A clip posted on social media shows Chiraphong’s head being covered by plastic bags during interrogation. He was pronounced dead the following day and Thitisan is accused of telling the doctor to put the cause of death down to drug overdose.
The other six police officers involved in the fatal interrogation include Pol Major Rawirot Disthong, Captain Songyos Klainak, Lieutenant Thoranin Maswanna, Snr Sgt-Major Wisut Boonkiew, Snr Sgt-Major Suphakorn Nimcheun, and Sgt-Major Paweekorn Khammarew.
Thitisan is popularly known as “Joe Ferrari” due to his collection of expensive sports cars.