Prosecutors yesterday appealed against a lower court ruling that dismissed the case against Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn and four alleged accomplices for the murder of Karen rights defender and politician Tatkamol Ob-om or "Ajarn Pod" in early September 2011.
Phetchaburi prosecutors yesterday lodged an appeal with the Phetchaburi Provincial Court against Mr Chaiwat, a former chief of Kaeng Krachan National Park, and the other four, after the lower court had dismissed the case in October last year saying the evidence did not carry enough weight.
Mr Chaiwat was the first defendant in the case, along with alleged accomplices Sak Plabngam, accused of being the gunman; Chuchai Sukprasert, a former member of tambon Bang Kao administration organisation in Cha-am district; and two park employees, Tawatchai Thongsuk and Duang Sangthong.
A charge of premeditated murder was pressed against the suspects but they denied it.
The former parks head has also been accused of involvement in the disappearance of activist Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, who also spoke up for Karen villagers in the park, last April.
Pairat Chuathonghua, a prosecutor of the Phetchaburi Attorney's Office, said the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) instructed the Phetchaburi Provincial Court to look into the case carefully after the National Human Rights Commission demanded justice from the OAG.
The Tatkamol case went to the Phetchaburi Provincial Court on Dec 29, 2011. Prosecutors accused the five of conspiring to murder Tatkamol, a Pheu Thai Party candidate in Phetchaburi, who was running a campaign for the right of Karen ethnic people to live in the park.
Tatkamol was banned from taking his campaign for Karen rights into the park on the ground he had disrupted ethnic minority development in the park. This sparked a conflict between him and Mr Chaiwat and park officials, according to a police investigation.
Tatkamol was shot dead while he was driving his car on the Phetkasem Highway in Phetchaburi's Ban Lat district on Sept 10, 2011. CCTV footage captured a sedan that the suspects allegedly used to follow and kill the victim and served as a key piece of evidence. But the court ruled the footage was not clear enough to identify it as belonging to the suspects.