web DeskThe Criminal Court of Bangkok South dismissed the case at the preliminary examination stage against ‘Pol. Col. Tao’, who was not guilty of defamation against ‘Big Joke’ and betraying the Royal Thai Police and his superiors.
On September 9, 2024, at the Bangkok South Criminal Court, the court scheduled a reading of the verdict in case number A631/2024, in which Pol. Gen. Surachet Hakpal, former deputy commissioner-general of the Royal Thai Police, was the plaintiff suing Pol. Maj. Gen. Charoonkiat Pankaew, the defendant, for defamation, with the lawsuit filed since March 22.
The complaint states the summary of the circumstances that on February 22, the defendant gave an interview to the media regarding the defendant’s appointment as deputy chief investigator in the online gambling case and the authority to investigate the case in which the plaintiff was accused. The defendant’s interview was a slanderous accusation that the plaintiff had betrayed the Royal Thai Police and had betrayed several superiors. In
addition, the defendant concluded and ruled that the plaintiff had ordered his superiors to commit a criminal offense, even though the National Anti-Corruption Commission had not yet accepted the case for consideration and the Criminal Court for Corruption Cases had not yet made a judgment on this matter. This caused the public who saw and listened to the interview to believe that the plaintiff was an evil, bad person who had harmed and betrayed even the Royal Thai Police, which was his parent organization, and had betrayed several superiors. The defendant’s actions as mentioned above were therefore intentional acts of defamation against the plaintiff through advertising in accordance with Section 328 of the Criminal Code, causing the general public who heard the defendant’s interview to believe that the plaintiff was an evil, corrupt, and ungrateful person who had betrayed the organization and his superiors.
At present, the National Anti-Corruption Commission has not yet found the plaintiff guilty and the c
ourt has not yet ruled that the plaintiff is guilty of the accusation that the defendant has made against the plaintiff in any way, causing the plaintiff to lose his reputation, be despised or be hated. In addition, the defendant cannot invoke his power and duty as deputy chief investigator and spokesman of the investigator to reveal the facts in the case and decide that the plaintiff is guilty as accused because the investigation and interrogation of the alleged criminal offense has the purpose of seeking facts and evidence, as well as collecting evidence to know the facts or prove the guilt, which must be carried out in accordance with the steps of the relevant laws until it leads to the court with authority to decide the guilt. It is not the duty of the officer with the authority to investigate or investigate to state the facts or decide the guilt himself, which is in the nature of leading society in any way.
After examining the grounds of the lawsuit, the court scheduled a hearing for the verdict or orde
r of the investigation of the grounds of the lawsuit today. The court issued an order to dismiss the lawsuit.
Source: Thai News Agency
