Critics siding with a former schoolteacher who claims she was wrongfully imprisoned and is seeking a retrial are being warned to avoid making comments that could prejudice the outcome.
Prayuth Phetkhun, deputy spokesman of the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG), warned members of the media to stop calling Jomsap Saenmuangkhot "a scapegoat" until she is proved to be.
Since the court is considering whether to accept Jomsap's petition for a retrial, no one should jump to any conclusions yet, said Mr Prayuth.
The Supreme Court's ruling in a 2005 fatal hit-and-run case, in which Jomsap was sentenced to three years and two months in jail, is still is deemed valid and hence both mainstream media and social media critics should be careful about their comments against the ruling, said OAG spokesman Somnuek Siangkong.
On Monday, the Nakhon Phanom provincial court postponed hearing Jomsap's petition until Feb 8-10 after key witness, Sap Wapee, who claimed he drove the car involved in the hit-and-run accident, failed to appear in court.
Pol Gen Panya Mamen, a police inspector-general assigned to investigate the case, Tuesday affirmed his previous comments that police have information that people are contriving to come up with evidence to prove police made Jomsap the "scapegoat".
Clearer information should be made available in a couple of days, he said, adding that all he could say at this point was that false statements about the case would later be submitted along with witnesses and evidence that had been obtained unlawfully.
Police are also probing a group believed to have been hired to provide fake witnesses, he said.
Asked whether Jomsap was involved in this attempt, Pol Gen Panya said police at this point were uncertain.
Police don't want to level accusations against Jomsap if they don't have sufficient evidence to prove them, he said, adding that police, however, are certain that Mr Sap, who claims to be the real driver in the 2005 deadly hit-and-run case isn't the driver and he is simply attempting to make a false confession for someone.
Police on Tuesday questioned a former Mukdahan senator who was approached by someone to represent Jomsap as her lawyer in the 2005 case after the Appeal Court acquitted her, according to Pol Gen Panya.
So far police have identified six people suspected of involvement in the attempt to seek a retrial of the 2005 hit-and-run case and portray Jomsap as the scapegoat in the case, he said.
They were in the same gang that had pulled off a similar stunt in several cases previously, he said, adding they succeeded in some but failed in others. Jomsap is not among those six suspects, he said.
Also Tuesday, Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, chairman of a group set up to help victims in criminal cases, affirmed his statement voicing suspicions over what Jomsap claims to be new evidence that should lead to the reopening of the 2005 case.
He stressed that he had sufficient information to prove that Jomsap was not a scapegoat and he intends to reveal the truth.
EARLIER REPORT:
Police are taking legal action against a gang of at least six people who are trying to seek a retrial of the controversial hit-and-run case in which a former teacher was earlier convicted and jailed.
Police inspector-general Panya Mamen said on Tuesday that he was investigating the case in which former teacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot claimed she was the scapegoat.
"The investigation has found many irregularities and legal violations. The Provincial Police Region 4 will file a complaint to take legal action against wrongdoers. There is a confessor for hire," Pol Gen Panya said.
According to him, six people would face the legal action as police found false testimonies and illegal acquisition of witnesses and evidence. He confirmed that police had flawlessly handled the case in 2005.
"Someone claimed to be a wrongdoer in place of another and some people stand to gain from it," Pol Gen Panya said.
He identified one of the suspects as Sab Wapee, a man who claimed to have driven the car involved in the hit-and-run accident. He turned himself in around nine months after Jomsap had been imprisoned.
After the Supreme Court's ruling on the case in 2013, a former senator of Mukdahan province, who is a lawyer, was approached to represent Jomsap in a retrial for a fee of 200,000-300,000 baht but he turned down the offer, Pol Gen Panya said.
He declined to confirm if the former teacher was involved in the racket, saying there had not been enough evidence to say so.
The incident took place in Renu Nakhon district, Nakhon Phanom province, at around 8pm on March 11, 2005.
A pickup truck hit a man riding a bicycle on the opposite lane on a two-lane road while trying to overtake a motorcycle in front. The 74-year-old man died later at a hospital.
The motorcycle driver, who later became one of the witnesses, claimed the licence plate was "Bor Kor 56 Sakhon Nakhon".
Another witness claimed he saw a man coming out from the pickup truck after the crash.
Police traced the licence plate back to an owner in Sakhon Nakhon, who bought it from her neighbour and transferred the ownership on that day.
Jomsap, who lives in Khok Si Suphan district, Sakhon Nakhon province, was the previous owner of the truck. She claimed she borrowed the truck for use on that day after selling it but denied hitting anyone.
She claimed she had been with her family at home at the time of the accident. She also declined to give statements to police.
The material evidence in this case is the scratches on the left side of the truck from the bonnet to the front door and residue of green paint on the bicycle's spoke.
Jomsap's truck is bronze in colour but police argued the green paint could have come from the licence plate since pickup trucks use green for the letters on the plates. The 54-year-old teacher was charged on March 11, 2005. The first court in Nakhon Phanom found her guilty a year later and sentenced her to three years and two months in prison.
The Appeals Court acquitted her, based on evidence. It decided that as the road has two lanes, the truck should have been damaged on its right side, not on the left side. Besides, it found the green paint could not have come from the licence plate because the one on Jomsap's vehicle was intact.
In the Supreme Court, prosecutors gave much weight to the witnesses believing they have no reason or motivation for them to lie.
The Supreme Court in September 2013 upheld the first court's decision and sentenced her to three years and two months.
On May 19, 2014, Sab Wapee turned himself in, claiming he was the driver of the pickup truck with the licence plate of "Bor Kor 56 Mukdahan" which killed the bicycle rider. He said he did not know about the wrong arrest. Once he learned about it, he decided to turn himself in. The licence plate of Jomsap's truck was "Bor Kor 56 Sakhon Nakhon".
Jomsap was released on April 3, 2015 after serving one year and six months.