EDITORIAL
It took almost two decades from the initial public exposure of massive corruption involving the 23-billion-baht Klong Dan waste water treatment project for the case to run its course, but now justice has finally been served. Vatana Asavahame, chief adviser of Puea Pandin party, has been sentenced in absentia to 10 years in prison, after the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions found him guilty of malfeasance in office.
The case dates back to 1992 and 1993, when Vatana was deputy interior minister. He was found to have abused his authority to coerce or persuade administrative and land officials of Samut Prakan's Bang Bo district to issue land title deeds for five land plots covering 1,900 rai of state land, to Palm Beach Development Company which was partially owned by Vatana. The land was later sold to the Pollution Control Department for construction of the waste water treatment plant.
Although the verdict has come a little too late _ the culprit jumped bail before the verdict was pronounced _ the court's conviction of Vatana should help refute the popular belief that powerful and corrupt people always escape scot-free while only the small fry face the full weight of the law. The verdict against Vatana should serve as a stern warning to corrupt politicians that they are not beyond the reach of the long arm of the law.
Prior to Monday's verdict against Vattana, the Criminal Court late last month sentenced Khunying Potjaman and her brother Bannapot Damapong to three years in prison for tax evasion. Potjaman's secretary Kanchana Honghern was given two years in jail. In that verdict, the court reprimanded the khunying and Bannapot, saying that because of their immense wealth and high social status, they should have served as model citizens for others to emulate.
In 2004, former public health minister Rakkiat Sukthana began serving a 15-year sentence for bribe-taking.
In the Klong Dan case, both the National Counter Corruption Commission and the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) should be commended for their tireless efforts in investigating the case. And last but not least was the role the media played in exposing the corruption. Also commendable has been the action of villagers in communities adjacent to the project site, who persistently and courageously fought against the project.
Since the focus has been on the major players _ on Vatana in this particular case, who was the only one tried and convicted _ little attention has been paid to the ''small fry,'' the local officials who helped Vatana secure the title deeds for the state-owned land.
Besides Vatana, five land and administrative officials of Bang Bo district were implicated in the scandal. But the OAG decided to indict them in the Criminal Court, which initially accepted the case but then dismissed it on the grounds that the five should also be tried in the same court as Vatana. The Appeals Court ruled in support of the Criminal Court and the OAG is contesting the ruling in the Supreme Court.
With the statute of limitations on the case against the five officials about to expire in October, the OAG should withdraw its appeal from the Supreme Court and instead file the case with the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions. Only then will justice be seen to have been served.
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