Moei's family to sue army over death probe

Moei's family to sue army over death probe

The sister (centre) and other members of the family of the late Pakapong 'Moei' Tanyakan had military police protection as they arrived at the meeting on Tuesday. (Photo by Apichit Jinakul)
The sister (centre) and other members of the family of the late Pakapong 'Moei' Tanyakan had military police protection as they arrived at the meeting on Tuesday. (Photo by Apichit Jinakul)

The family of the deceased armed forces cadet Pakapong "Moei" Tanyakan is not happy with the results of the probe and will file a lawsuit against concerned parties over his death.

Speaking after a two-hour meeting with the military panel investigating Pakapong's mysterious death, Pichet Tanyakan, his father, said the family still had questions about several issues. He said the family would file a lawsuit seeking justice for Pakapong.

The atmosphere was gloomy from the start when the family walked out of the meeting with the military panel early in the day to protest against its decision to not allow two relatives to hear the findings.

Five of them turned up at the 11am meeting at the Royal Thai Armed Forces headquarters with the inquiry panel chaired by ACM Chawarat Marungruang. Twenty minutes later, they emerged from the meeting, appearing upset.

Mrs Sukanya, the mother, said the military did not allow the other two people in to hear the findings. Only three, Pakapong's father, his mother Sukanya, and older sister Supicha were allowed.

"We are not okay with this. As they invited us, all of us should be allowed to hear the findings. We will take legal action. We have yet to receive any explanation from the chairman of the inquiry panel," Mrs Sukanya said.

A virtual feeding frenzy among the media started when Ms Supicha arrived at the meeting.

(Video Twitter/@wassanananuam)

Ms Supicha, the sister, said the military panel would not allow two uncles who had raised Pakapong since he was young to attend and she could not understand why.

However, shortly after that they received a phone call from the military saying all would be allowed to attend the meeting after all.

A source said the cadet's family raised four questions about Pakapong's death and ACM Chawarat, the inquiry chairman, promised to take them to Supreme Commander Thanchaiyan Srisuwan for further investigation.

Pakapong's family had been invited to hear the findings following the army's declaration the first-year cadet died of sudden cardiac arrest, not as a result of injuries caused by physical abuse as suspected by his family.

The cadet died on Oct 17 last year, a day after he returned to the school after a short break. The academy provided a death certificate indicating he had died of sudden cardiac arrest but gave no more details.

The case drew wide attention after the family revealed they secretly removed his body from a cremation ceremony at a temple on Oct 24 to undergo an autopsy at the Central Institute of Forensic Science under the Ministry of Justice. Pakapong's body was cremated on Dec 9.

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