Allegations cloud ex-teacher's fight for justice

Allegations cloud ex-teacher's fight for justice

Former teacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot speaks to reporters at the Nakhon Phanom court on Monday. (Photo by Pattanapong Sripiachai)
Former teacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot speaks to reporters at the Nakhon Phanom court on Monday. (Photo by Pattanapong Sripiachai)

As the 2005 hit-and-run case continues to intrigue ahead of the next court hearing in February, those who support Jomsap Saenmuangkhot and those who believe she is guilty are confident with the evidence they have for the upcoming high-profile lawsuit.

Jomsap, 54, is seeking a retrial after being convicted by the Supreme Court and serving an 18-month jail term resulting from a car accident in March 2005 in which an elderly bicyclist was killed. The former teacher says a man named Sap Wapee, who claims to be the real driver in the deadly hit-and-run case, will prove her innocence.

The Nakhon Phanom provincial court will hear witness testimony from both sides on Feb 8-10 while the Supreme Court will rule after that on whether to approve the retrial request.

Deputy permanent secretary for justice Pol Col Dusadee Arayawut said on Wednesday three new witnesses would testify during the three-day hearing to back Jomsap’s claim. Other fresh evidence, which was not presented in the previous trial, would also be brought into the courtroom. 

“We have verified the credibility of these new pieces of evidence and are confident that they will be able to convince the court to overturn the ruling,” Pol Col Dusadee said. 

“The witnesses are now more than 100% ready to testify."

Pol Col Dusadee would not give details about the witnesses and the new evidence. Jomsap earlier told the media that Mr Sap would appear in court as her key witness. 

The justice deputy permanent secretary said his team stepped in to help Jomsap after she lodged a petition with the Justice Ministry. A fact-finding team was sent to Nakhon Phanom province to launch an inquiry and “they found new evidence which they believe [could prove] Jomsap was a scapegoat”, he added.

Pol Col Dusadee declined to comment on police’s remarks that a group of fraudsters had tried to portray Jomsap as a scapegoat in order to gain financial compensation. 

“The ministry is duty bound to help a damaged party who has not received justice. It’s not our business to tamper with the conflict,” he explained.

Meanwhile, Pol Gen Panya Mamen, a police inspector-general assigned to investigate the case, has repeated his previous comments that there were at least seven people at this point behind the “confessor for hire” conspiracy in Jomsap’s retrial effort.  

“Based on the evidence at this stage, we have high confidence that this was done by an organised gang,” Pol Gen Panya said. 

He said the gang members had sought legal advice from a former Mukdahan senator who warned them that they would break several laws in pulling such a stunt.

Pol Gen Panya said investigators were investigating further to find out if there were more people involved and whether Mr Sap was the real driver as he claims. 

He said Mr Sap claimed he was driving a pickup truck with a Mukdahan licence plate at the time of the accident on March 11, 2005 and the vehicle belonged to him, according to Jomsap’s retrial petition with the court. But officers doubted if that was true because they interviewed all past owners of the vehicle and discovered that Mr Sap had actually sold it a year before the crash took place.

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