The Criminal Court has refused bail and jailed the parents of former princess Thanpuying Srirasm Suwadee because the case is important and linked to the monarchy, it said yesterday.
Apiruj Suwadee and his wife, Wanthanee, the parents of Thanpuying Srirasm Suwadee, formerly Princess Srirasm, were detained on charges of using their influence to force a policeman to file a false complaint against a woman. APICHART JINAKUL
The bail refusal came after Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police sought the courts approval to detain Apiruj Suwadee, 72, and Wanthanee Suwadee, 66.
They reported yesterday to the CSD and confessed to charges of lese majeste and arranging false statements to put a woman in prison more than a decade ago in Ratchaburi.
The parents had come prepared to pay 2 million baht and were asking bail to be set at 1 million baht each.
Pol Col Akradet Pimolsri, acting CSD commander, objected to bail for the couple because the case concerned the monarchy.
Mr Apiruj was taken to Klong Prem Remand Prison while his wife Wanthanee was taken to the Central Women's Correctional Institute.
The two prisons are located in the same compound in Chatuchak district.
The couple earlier met Pol Maj Gen Thitirat Nonghanpitak, acting commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), and Pol Col Akradet.
Pol Col Akradej said police summoned the couple yesterday after finishing their investigative report. Police then took them to the prosecutors.
Pol Maj Gen Thitirat said the couple confessed voluntarily and were not forced to do so.
They confessed because we presented them with strong evidence, Pol Col Akradej said.
The charges brought against the couple came after Sawita Maneechan, 32, an employee of the Mae Fah Luang Foundation under Royal Patronage, lodged a complaint with the CSD against the pair early this month.
Ms Sawita said that 12 years earlier, Ms Wanthanee accused her of having an affair with Mr Apiruj and maliciously persuaded her uncle, a police officer at the time, to charge her with fraud over money she allegedly borrowed from him.
Ms Wanthanee said she had confessed to everything and regretted her accusations.