Retrial Act offers hope to falsely jailed

Retrial Act offers hope to falsely jailed

Innocents have another shot at justice, but process open to abuse

For 30 years the Retrial Act has been instrumental in delivering justice to the wrongfully convicted, but police warn it could also be vulnerable to abuse.

Enacted in 1983, the retrial law aimed to reverse mistakes made by the police and the courts in criminal investigations and trials.

The act gave people who were wrongly convicted a chance to regain their freedom in light of new evidence.

The act made headlines recently after it was invoked in two prominent cases.

Criminal cases can be retried under three conditions, Crime Suppression Division (CSD) senior investigator Pol Col Anek Taosuparb said.

Cases could be reopened by police if it is found witnesses provided false testimony, if false evidence was presented, or if new evidence emerges, he said.

He said four parties in criminal cases have the option of filing a request for a retrial: Criminal convicts; legal guardians of a convicted minor; prosecutors who did not indict the suspect in the case; and parents of a dead suspect or convict if that person died while in prison.

In May last year, the retrial act was employed after 55-year-old Boonkerd Ounwong accused police of arresting her innocent son.

Mrs Boonkerd arrived at Pathunam Chalalongkorn police station in Pathum Thani along with Anek Ounwong, one of her 30-year-old identical twin sons.

Anek wanted to turn himself in to police to face assault charges.

He told police he had been involved in an assault in November 2010.

He told police they had wrongly arrested his twin brother, Anont, who had been convicted and sentenced to four years in jail for the assault.

Anont had earlier lost an appeal and went on to serve 14 months in jail before his brother surrendered.

Mrs Boonkerd initially tried in vain to get justice for her son. The police, however, thought the family was covering up for Anont.

The police were convinced otherwise when Anek turned up, and the case was revived.

The police then set up a special team to review the case.

Fingerprints confirmed that the jailed brother did not commit the crime and it was in fact Anek who carried out the assault.

Anek confessed that he went on the run after the attack.

A year later he returned home and learned his brother had been jailed for his crime.

Anont has since been released pending a ruling by the Supreme Court on whether it will grant a retrial.

In another high-profile case, Jaruek Nukaew, a 56-year-old father of a man jailed for rape, petitioned Pol Col Anek on April 4 to reopen the case against his son.

He said his son, Sudsakhorn Nukaew, 29, was not responsible for the rape, which took place in Nakhon Si Thammarat seven years ago.

Sudsakhorn had been given 26 years in jail in 2011 for taking part in the gang rape of a minor.

Mr Jaruek told police the real culprit was his other son, Jirayuth Nukaew, 26.

After the crime the 15-year-old victim filed a complaint with Pak Phanang district police.

She told police that 17 men raped her at three different locations in the district between Feb 17 and Feb 20, 2006.

Police later caught Sudsakhorn and three other suspects.

Sudsakhorn was charged and sentenced to 26 years in jail _ a verdict the Appeals Court and Supreme Court later upheld.

His family has asked the CSD to reinvestigate the case.

Mr Jirayuth has denied taking part in the gang rape, as accused by his father.

Pol Col Anek said Mr Jirayuth gave statements about the locations where the assaults took place that were inconsistent with the victim's account.

Pol Col Anek admits, though, that the retrial law has been prone to abuse.

He said it is possible for convicts to arrange to have new evidence created, and they can offer money to innocent people to stand in as scapegoats.

Significant details must be carefully studied before any case is reopened, he said. Only police have the right to reopen a case.

Anyone who violates the retrial act will face severe consequences, Pol Col Anek warned.


Contact Crime Track: crimetrack@bangkokpost.co.th

Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (1)