Former park chief cleared of murder

Former park chief cleared of murder

Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn not guilty of killing Karen rights activist Tatkamol Ob-om in 2011

The Phetchaburi Provincial Court on Tuesday dismissed the case against Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, a former chief of Kaeng Krachan National Park, and four alleged accomplices for the murder of Karen rights defender and politician Tatkamol Ob-om in early September 2011.

Mr Chaiwat was the first defendant in the case, along with alleged accomplices Sak Plabngam, the alleged gunman, Chuchai Sukprasert, a former member of Bang Kao tambon administration organisation in Cha-am district, and two park employees, Tawatchai Thongsuk and Duang Sangthong.

The case was brought by the prosecution in the Phetchaburi Provincial Court, accusing the five of conspiring to murder Tatkamol, a candidate in Phetchaburi running for the House of Representatives and a staunch campaigner for the right of Karen ethnic people to live in Kaeng Krachan National Park.

They were all charged with premeditated murder.

Tatkamol's campaign for Karen rights led to him being prohibited from entering Kaeng Krachan National Park on the grounds that he had disrupted ethnic minority development in the park.

He was shot dead on Phetkasem highway in Phetchaburi's Ban Lat district in early September 2011.

The court today ruled that the circumstantial evidence presented to it did not carry enough weight to back the murder charges against the five and ordered the case dismissed.

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