Phongsathon Suwannaraksa, a high-profile lawyer known for assisting sexual abuse victims, has been arrested for allegedly raping and blackmailing one of his own clients.
The 26-year-old rape victim is said to have suffered depression as a result of the alleged assault and tried to take her own life by jumping off the deck of HTMS Chakri Naruebet in Chon Buri on Nov 22 last year. She was immediately rescued.
Mr Phongsathon, 34, better known as Lawyer Arm, was arrested by the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) police in Songkhla, his hometown, on Monday. He was charged with rape using force, which he denied, and insisted it was consensual sex.
“It was perfectly consensual. I will definitely win this case [countersuit]. If I lose, I will stop being a lawyer,” said the suspect upon his arrest on Monday
He also said he has lodged lawsuits against the woman for attempting to extort money from him and filing a false police complaint against him.
The lawyer also has petitioned the National Anti-Corruption Commission against police investigators at Don Muang police station who are handling the rape case against him.
After the woman survived last year’s suicide attempt, she told the MPB investigators the lawyer had threatened her, which caused her to suffer from depression and led to her eventual suicide bid.
She said she had met him in 2022 when she sought help suing a friend who had refused to repay a 100,000-baht debt. At the time, the lawyer stood as a candidate in a by-election on the Kla Party's ticket in Songkhla but lost.
According to the woman, the lawyer invited her to what he claimed to be a party arranged by Kla in Bangkok, lured her to a hotel room and raped her. She claimed that after the incident, he began blackmailing her.
She later decided to file a rape charge against him in Don Muang district of Bangkok. He then filed countersuits against her and took legal action against the police investigators.