Former boxing champ seeks justice after wrongful imprisonment
A former boxing champion pleaded for justice from the national police chief today (June 1) after suffering a knockout blow to his career when he was accused of drug trafficking before a fight two years ago.
Atchariya Virojsunobol, the former WBC Asia super-lightweight champion, together with his family and lawyer, submitted documents to police chief Chakthip Chaijinda as evidence he had been wrongfully imprisoned for 14 months.
Atchariya was arrested at Don Mueang airport in 2018 as he was about to board a flight for a boxing match in Japan. He was accused of involvement in smuggling 3.4 million amphetamine pills.
He was finally released last week on May 27, when the court decided to dismiss his case after evidence surfaced showing he was not linked to the drug dealers.
The ex-boxer complained the only evidence police had against him was that he was the ex-owner of a car used by the drug dealers. He said he had sold the car in 2015.
Among evidence presented by his lawyers was that Atchariya was not even in the same province (Ranong) as the drug dealers when they were caught by police. Moreover, the jailed dealers denied ever having been associated with Atchariya.
