Chitpas arrest warrant voided: DSI

WEDNESDAY, September 23, 2015

THE DEPARTMENT of Special Investigations (DSI) yesterday denied cancelling the arrest warrant for sedition charges against Chitpas Tant Kridakon, a former core member of the People's Democratic Reform Committee and now a police force applicant.

Pol Major Woranant Srilam, director of DSI’s special-case management centre, said she was charged over political rallies and that the agency had accepted the case as a special one on December 17, 2013.

Public prosecutors decided to indict her in May last year, and DSI applied to the court for an arrest warrant. Chitpas later turned herself in and was released on bail.

“Since she surrendered, the arrest warrant is no longer in effect as per Article 68 of the criminal code,” he clarified.

National police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang said yesterday that he had been told that Chitpas turned up for a physical exam and had not withdrawn her application to become an officer under the Patrol and Special Operation Division 191.

He said Chitpas was qualified to apply as a police officer because people fighting lawsuits are considered innocent until the court decides otherwise.

Metropolitan Police Bureau assistant spokesman Pol Colonel Akarak Limsangkat said the bureau would consider aspects such as knowledge, personality, health and qualifications when deciding whether to accept her application.

He said she had passed the first test and undergone a physical check-up on Monday. If she passes the physical test, then a panel would be set up to check her qualifications.

According to directives, qualified candidates must have strong morals, integrity, accept democracy and not create divisions on the national front, he said.

He added that the selection panel would be neutral when considering her application. “The decision must be in line with the public and the police’s needs. Public sentiment will have an impact on the selection panel,” he said.

Chitpas’s application for the 191 post drew protests from a group of police officers believed to have ties with the red shirts.