Premchai probe ‘biased to help him’

STUDENTS AND environmentalists are calling for swift legal action against construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta and his three companions, who are accused of illegal hunting in Kanchanaburi’s Thung Yai Naresuan Sanctuary. 
Seub Nakhasathien Foundation secretary-general Sasin Chalermlarp said that March 4 would mark one month since the four men’s arrest and he would start a campaign to follow up with the police investigation to ensure the wrongdoers are punished as soon as possible.
Promising to join with advocates to protest if concrete progress was not made after March 5, Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Forestry student club president Wittawat Banleng and three student representatives submitted at 1pm yesterday a petition to Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha via the Government's Public Complaint Centre. 
They claimed the ongoing investigation seemed to be less than transparent, as Premchai, president of Italian-Thai Development, and other suspects had not yet been questioned, while state officials who accused them were subjected to a grilling “as if they were in the wrong”. 
“We want police to issue arrest warrants and we want the premier to make sure this case will get justice – as it would boost park officials’ morale that their arrest of alleged poachers led to justice, [and] not falling apart when entering further procedures,” Wittawat said. 
The students also questioned if a reported failure to test for gunpowder residue on Premchai was an intentional move to weaken evidence against the 63-year-old tycoon.
Sasin, meanwhile, wrote on his Facebook page that the case had solid evidence, including a salt-laced black leopard skin, the leopard’s tail in a soup pot at the camp, rifles found onsite and unauthorised gunshots heard. Plus there was an audio clip of the alleged bribery attempt. 
“I have a feeling that some people in the case investigation are trying to help Premchai. A case like this should not see the suspects get bailed. With such obvious evidence, if he got away with it the government can’t deny responsibility,” he wrote.
“Why are poor suspects prosecuted quickly but those suspects who are influential figures are treated differently? This might raise the need to revamp the criminal procedure code,” he wrote. 
The Department of National Parks Department (DNP) chief will preside over a February 28 meeting examining progress in the case. Officials are also seeking names from the Interior Ministry of owners of guns that could be used in wildlife hunting – as well as names of hunters by geographic area – to put on a watch list.
Meanwhile, sanctuary chief Wichien Chinnawong yesterday conducted ballistic trajectory tests in Huai Pachee, where Premchai and three others were found camping on February 4 in possession of three rifles and the carcasses of an endangered black leopard, a muntjac (deer) and a Kalij pheasant. 
Chaiwat Limlikhit-aksorn of the DNP’s Phaya Sua forest crime suppression task force was present as evidence was gathered. It will be submitted to Pol Captain Sumit Boonyanit of Thong Pha Phum precinct. 
Premchai and three others were hit with nine charges, including hunting in a wildlife sanctuary, but were freed on bail and ordered to meet court officials on March 24. They failed to answer police summons on February 15 and 22. 
Premchai’s lawyer claimed he was busy and a new date was set for March 5, along with a warning from the police that failure to appear would lead to arrest warrants.