Presume innocence until proven guilty

Whatever happened to the popular motto, “One is presumed innocent until proven guilty”? Sadly, Suphoth Sublom has been tried and found guilty by the public for taking Bt1 billion in kickbacks. The break-in suspects told police they saw boxes they believed contained Bt1 billion in cash. Yes, the burglary suspects believe, so should we.

But what about the Bt15 million the suspects turned in to police? That should nail Suphoth right there. May I ask, how do we know the money was taken from his house, and not provided by someone who, for some reason, wants to destroy Suphoth’s career? Spending Bt15 million or even Bt200 million to get rid of someone with Suphoth’s status is plausible. He oversaw budgets worth hundreds of billions of baht at the Transport Ministry. He may stand in the way of a mega corruption scheme, or he may be about to blow the whistle on someone very powerful. He could be framed.

Of course, I’m not saying he is innocent; all I’m saying is, let’s presume the man is innocent and allow the court to decide his destiny. Let’s hear his side of the story. So far, all we have heard is from the suspects, who seemed so eager and willing to surrender.

Somsak Pola 

Samut Prakarn