Court rejects petition to declare Al-ruwaili missing

saudi businessman

The South Bangkok Criminal Court on Wednesday rejected the prosecution's application that declare a Saudi businessman who has not been seen since 1990 a legally missing person.

The petition was filed with the court on Sept 2 this year at the request of the Department of Special Investigation to clear the way for the businessman's family to manage his assets.

The court denied the request on the grounds the prosecution had only one witness, Pol Lt-Col Benjapol Chanthawan, a DSI expert on special cases, who testified that Mohammad al-Ruwaili came to live in Thailand to run a business in 1985 and had sappeared on Feb 12, 1990.

The witness said al-Ruwaili's car was found in the Christian Hospital parking lot.  Police tried to find him, but failed.  The case was later transferred to the DSI, which failed to make any further progress.

The petitioner also did not produce any important witnesses, such as the missing man's wife or relatives, to confirm to the court that al-Ruwaili had disappeared.

As a consequence, Pol Lt-Col Benjapol's statement carried little weight, the court said.

Also, there were no documents to confirm that al-Ruwaili had not left the country. The only document submitted to the court was a copy of the police complaint that the businessman was missing.

To conclude, there was insufficient evidence to substantiate the belief that al-Ruwaili had disappeared without trace, he court said.

The court, therefore, dismissed the case.

The disappearance of al-Ruwaili and the murders of four Saudi diplomats in 1989 and 1990 worsened the relations between Thailand and Saudi Arabia.

It is believed he had knowledge about the embezzlement of the Saudi jewellery stolen by Kriangkrai Techamong, a Thai worker, from the palace of King Faisal in 1989.