Former DSI chief gets two-year jail sentence for distortion of facts
The Supreme Court on Monday sentenced the former Department of Special Investigation (DSI) director-general, Tharit Pengdit, to two years in jail without parole for distortion of facts over the 2010 protest crackdown.
Tharit was immediately sent to the Bangkok remand prison in Chatuchak district. The Supreme Court also dismissed the defendant's objections to the judges, the court’s former president and related persons.
The ruling came after former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban filed a lawsuit against Tharit for distortion of facts in the Centre for Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES)'s crackdown on the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), also known as red shirts.
The red shirts launched anti-government demonstrations in 2010, calling for the resignation of Abhisit. After weeks of protests, the CRES crackdown killed 99 people and injured more than 2,000 others.
After the incident, Tharit, as a DSI investigator during that time, charged Abhisit and Suthep with issuing the order to kill people.
According to Tharit's petition, which was dismissed by the Supreme Court, the ruling was not fair as some judges and its former president were involved with the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) of which Suthep, the co-plaintiff, was the leader. Protests launched by the PDRC against the Yingluck Shinawatra government in 2013-14 paved the way for a coup.
