Lese majeste cases against former Central Investigation Bureau chief Pongpat Chayapan and others in his alleged network will be handed to prosecutors tomorrow.
Lead investigator Pol Lt Gen Kokiet Wongworachart said yesterday the panel handling the cases had agreed to lodge six lese majeste charges against the former police general and his cohorts.
Pol Lt Gen Kokiet, an assistant to the police chief, called a meeting yesterday with investigators including Pol Maj Gen Pakkapong Pongpetra, the deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, to consider when to file the charges. The meeting was told that two charges were to be filed against Sudathip Muangnual, who has been accused of citing the monarchy as a means to helping her win an important food contract.
Lese majeste charges have also been filed against Chakarn Parkpoom and Natthapol Suwadee (who until recently had the royal surname of Akkharaphongpricha) for citing the royal family in asking their teachers to tick their attendance during a graduate course and allow them to sit an exam at the National Institute of Development Administration.
Other charges included citing the monarchy to obtain benefits and money from others and illegally collecting debts and extortion, according to police.
A committee at the Office of the Inspector General has agreed to formally dismiss Pol Lt Gen Pongpat and five alleged accomplices who have been charged with lese majeste from their police posts.
The six suspects are Pol Lt Gen Pongpat, his deputy Pol Maj Gen Kowit Wongrungroj; Pol Maj Gen Boonsueb Phraithuean, former chief of the Marine Police Division; Pol Col Wuthichat Liansukhon, former chief of the Anti-Human Trafficking Division's Sub-division 4; Pol Snr Sgt Maj Surasak Channgao; and Pol Snr Sgt Maj Chattrin Laothong.