Appeals court upholds death penalty for two Kalasin policemen

The court has also commuted the sentence for Pol Lt-Colonel Sampao Indee, 54, from death to life in prison thanks to his useful confession. He had previously been acquitted. Pol Colonel Montri Sriboonleu, 65, and Pol Lt-Colonel Sumit Nansathit, 48, were a sentence of five years in jail each for the abuse of authority. 

On July 30, 2012, the primary court had sentenced Angkan, Sudthinan and Pansil to death for premeditated murder and moving the body to conceal the real cause of death. The court had also sentenced Montri to seven years in jail for abusing his authority to help others avoid punishment, while Sumit was given a life sentence for conspiring to murder. Sampao was acquitted. The five officers were granted bail on a Bt1 million guarantee each on condition they do not leave the country. 

A relative of the victim expressed gratitude to the court yesterday and thanked all witnesses for helping with the case. However, she plans to file an appeal with the Supreme Court over Sumit’s five-year jail term, which she said was not enough. She also expressed concerns about witnesses’ safety as all the defendants will be granted bail during the Supreme Court trial, as they are still active police officers and could legally carry weapons. 

Later yesterday, Sampao, Montri and Sumit were again released on a Bt1 million bail on condition they don’t leave the country, while those facing death and life imprisonment are being detained in the Bangkok Remand Prison pending the Supreme Court’s decision on granting them bail.