Supreme Court issues arrest warrant for former DSI chief

Tarit requested seven postponements of the court’s reading of the verdict over the past year.

In April last year, the Supreme Court granted his request for postponement after he informed the court that he was being treated for Covid-19.

In his latest request submitted on Wednesday, Tarit said he needed three more months for treatment of kidney disease.

His lawyer informed the court that Tarit underwent an operation at Siriraj Hospital on January 29 and needed time for recovery and medical monitoring.

Tarit and three other DSI officers are accused of abuse of power and malfeasance by former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban for filing murder charges against them over the crackdown on red-shirt protests in 2012.

In March 2020, the Appeals Court overturned the Criminal Court’s acquittal of Tarit and sentenced him to two years in prison. The three other DSI officers were also found guilty of malfeasance and given two-year terms.

The court found them guilty of abuse of authority in favour of the Yingluck Shinawatra government, which succeeded Abhisit’s Democrat-led administration.

After considering the documents submitted by the defendant, the Supreme Court on Thursday found that his doctor’s letter did not state that Tarit’s condition was so serious that he could not attend the court hearing on Thursday.

The court said the defendant had made multiple requests for postponement over the past year. This could be considered a delaying tactic to allow the defendant time to escape, so the court issued a warrant for Tarit’s arrest to force him to attend the verdict reading.

The Supreme Court scheduled March 24 for its reading of the verdict in Tarit’s case. His surety of 300,000 baht was seized and the court ordered his guarantor to pay a fine within 15 days.

The three other defendants showed up for the court’s hearing on Thursday.