The Appeal Court on Tuesday upheld a two-year jail term without suspension for Pol Sgt Maj Prasit Chaisrisa, a former Pheu Thai MP for Surin, who was found guilty by the court of first instance for having in posession military hardware and accepting stolen property in connection with the military dispersal of red-shirt demonstrators in 2010.
On April 22, 2010 police searched Pol Sgt Maj Prasit's car and found two bullet-proof vests and a safety helmet, which are military hardware permissible for military use only.
The military hardware went missing on April 10 that year during a military operation to disperse the protesting members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD).
According to the prosecution, on that day, while Sgt Chanayut Komsakhon was taking part in the operation in Dusit area, he was attacked by at least three men with a one-metre-long flag pole. Sgt Chanayut was hurt and the attackers took the safety helmet he was wearing.
Pol Sgt Maj Prasit, who was also a UDD member, was charged with having military hardware without permission in violation of Sections 4,12 and 42 of the 1987 Military Hardware Control and accepting a stolen item in breach of Section 357 of the Criminal Code.
The former MP denied the charges.
The Criminal Court on Oct 30, 2018 found him guilty of the two charges and sentenced him to two years in jail without suspension. The defendant applealed and was released on bail.
The Appeal Court on Tuesday upheld the lower court's decision on the ground that Pol Sgt Maj Prasit had accepted the vests and helmet, which are stolen from a military force on duty. His defence that he had the items for self-protection was not credible. There is also no reason to suspend the jail term, said the court.
Pol Sgt Maj Prasit, who was accompanied by his wife to the court, said he would appeal and seek a release on bail with 700,000-baht collateral.