BANGKOK (The Nation/Asia News Network): Serial petitioner Srisuwan Janya has written to the Office of the Ombudsman demanding that it investigate the conduct of state officials overseeing former premier Thaksin Shinawatra’s time in jail.
In his letter handed over on Wednesday (Aug 30), Srisuwan accused officials of the Royal Thai Police, Department of Corrections, and the Police General Hospital of failing to treat Thaksin the same way as other convicts since he arrived in Thailand earlier this month.
Srisuwan is leader of the newly founded “Rak Chart Rak Paen Din” (Love for Nation and Homeland) organisation.
Thaksin returned to Thailand on Aug 22 after 15 years of self-imposed exile and was slapped with a 10-year jail sentence on charges of corruption and abuse of power during his term as the 23rd prime minister.
However, he was seen walking freely, unshackled while greeting supporters at Bangkok’s Don Mueang International Airport, where his private jet landed, Srisuwan said.
The 74-year-old billionaire was rushed from the Bangkok Remand Prison’s hospital to the Police General Hospital at 1am on Aug 24 after doctors found him suffering from chest pain and very high blood pressure.
Reporters from The Nation who visited the hospital’s King Bhumibol’s 88th Anniversary Building on Aug 24 morning – where Thaksin is being treated on the 14th floor – found that no plainclothes or uniformed police had been dispatched for security.
“I urged the Office of the Ombudsman, an independent agency, to investigate officials responsible for providing special treatment to this prisoner in order to stop the injustice and double standards,” Srisuwan said.
He added that he had earlier called on the National Anti-Corruption Commission to take legal action against state officials who broke the law.
Srisuwan’s letter was accepted by the Ombudsmen Office’s deputy secretary-general Watanyu Thiphayamontha, who promised to ensure justice to all parties involved.
