BANGKOK
The alleged suicide of a suspect in a high-profile lese-majeste case in Thailand has led a local rights group to call for the closure of a military detention center and for an impartial inquiry into the circumstances of his death.
Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, the founder of the Cross Cultural Foundation -- a non-governmental organization that monitors the Thai justice system -- told Anadolu Agency on Monday that "army camps are not ready to be detention facilities.”
“The corrections department has developed a system to protect prisoners with constant surveillance," she said.
"The military are not professional and not ready to do this kind of job, so stop bringing suspects into military camps.”
On Sunday, the foundation released a statement calling for “the temporary remand facility at the 11th Army Circle [to] be shut down, since it is not ready and appropriate to hold a suspect”.
In the statement, the NGO also called for an inquiry on the suspect death “to be impartial and reliable”.
“Procedures including the post mortem autopsy, crime scene investigation and post mortem inquest have to be conducted properly according to procedural law,” it said.
Somchai Homla-Or, a senior adviser to the foundation, told Anadolu Agency on Monday that, “because the suspect was held in a special detention facility where access for his relatives or for lawyers were very difficult, the death may create some doubts or suspicions."
“So to make it more transparent and build confidence, an independent committee should be set up to investigate the death,” he added.
Police Major Prakrom Warunprapa was found hanged in his cell by a guard at the 11th Army Circle on Friday evening and later died in hospital.
According to Matichon news site, a highly placed source at the department of corrections said Monday that a forensic expert had examined the body and concluded that he died from asphyxiation from strong pressure exerted to his throat.
The unnamed source added that Warunprapa's relatives had been informed so that they could come to collect the body to conduct funeral rites.
Homla-Or -- a veteran human rights lawyer -- said he considered the circumstances of Warunprapa's death suspicious.
“The maximum sentence for lese-majeste is 15 years in jail, which is much lower than in case of murder... So the charge against the suspect may not really be the cause of the suicide.
“There are very few detainees in this special facility. How can a person commit suicide by hanging himself without the knowledge of prison officers who should be very alert on this case?” he added.
Prakrom was sent to military court Wednesday along with two other suspects -- well-known fortune-teller Suriyan Sujaritpolwong and his assistant Jirawong Wathanathewasil -- accused of having fraudulently claimed close connections to members of the royal family.
The court ordered their detention in the jail for 12 days.
After Warunprapa's alleged suicide Friday evening, the department of corrections published a document saying an investigation would be carried out “because the death occurred while the suspect was under detention”.
It also said that the deceased was a “high profile suspect” and “may have had trouble adapting himself to his situation after his arrest”.
The document added that with Friday being a public holiday, “there was only one guard to monitor the five persons detained in separate rooms” at the facility.
On Monday, Khongkachonkiet rejected both arguments, telling Anadolu Agency that “they cannot blame the circumstances of the person or the holiday.”
As for the ongoing inquiry, she remained sceptical, saying that based on the foundation’s experience, “it is very difficult to get the facts of what happens in military camps.”
“If the investigation is carried out by the military, we won’t get the real facts,” she added.
Details of the case are murky as lese-majeste issues are extremely sensitive in Thailand.
Article 112 of the criminal code punishes anyone who insults or defames the king, the queen, or the heir apparent with a jail term of between three and 15 years.
Before his arrest, Warunprapa had been working for 10 months at the Technology Crime Suppression Division, the police unit tracking people committing lese-majeste crimes on the Internet.
According to Khaosod website, he had been working on another high-profile lese-majeste case involving then-Crime Investigation Bureau chief General Pongpat Chayapan.
Last November, Chayapan was arrested along with around 30 other people for having used his proximity to the royal family for his own profit.
Chayapan, who is the uncle of former princess Srirasmi Suwadee -- the then-consort of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn -- was sentenced to a cumulative jail time of 31 years and nine months having confessed to lese-majeste, bribery and money laundering charges.
