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The Supreme Court has given us renewed hope that the rule of law in this country still works. Yesterday it sentenced three lawyers who work for former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his wife, Pojaman, to six months in prison without probation. This verdict is almost earth-shattering.

Pichit Chuenban, the lawyer working for Thaksin and Pojaman; Suphasee Srisawat, a personal assistant to Pojaman; and Thana Tansiri, another Thaksin lawyer, were found to have committed contempt of court through attempted bribery. The Supreme Court's verdict sends a strong signal that the judicial process cannot be bought at a time when the country is facing a political crisis. The judiciary offers the only hope of bridging the political divide by proceeding with cases against politicians in a straightforward manner.

On June 10, reports emerged that lawyers representing a big-time politician handed a gift box of candies to a court clerk. When the clerk opened the box, he found Bt2 million inside. One of the lawyers said he had just returned from a foreign trip and wanted to hand the money to court officials to share among themselves because they had been working very hard. At that time a senior judge happened to walk by. When he saw the money, he ordered it to be pictured. A brief interrogation ensued before the money was returned to the lawyer.

After the news reports broke the next day, the Supreme Court hastily formed a panel of three judges to investigate the bribery allegation. All the judges are known for their integrity and honesty, and following almost two weeks of investigation, the Supreme Court took the matter into its own hands by holding a trial on the case. Since it is a case of contempt of court, the Supreme Court can hear the case directly without having to pass it to the police first. If the case were to start with the police, chances are that it would drag on and that facts would be compromised along the way. 

According to the Supreme Court's ruling, Pichit, Suphasee and Thana - the three defendants - were waiting at the Supreme Court to accompany Thaksin and Pojaman, who were reporting to the court upon their return from a foreign trip. Thana asked Suphasee to call ML Thitiphong Chompunut, a clerk in the Supreme Court's Office of Political Holders, to meet them in a lawyers' waiting room. Thitiphong was handed a bag of candies and Bt2 million in cash. Thitiphong consulted his superior before returning the gift and the cash to Thana.

The Supreme Court ruled that Thana was the one who brought the money in, and that he, Suphasee and Pichit committed contempt of court by trying to bribe court officials. The court rejected the defendants' claim that the gift was offered by mistake and that they had intended to give chocolates instead. The Supreme Court rejected Pichit's claim that he had nothing to do with the attempted bribery.

The Supreme Court gave the three defendants a harsh sentence that cannot be appealed. Since Thana did not show up at the Supreme Court during the reading, the Court issued a warrant for his arrest.

The Supreme Court's ruling will be a big setback to Thaksin and Pojaman in their fight against corruption and tax-evasion charges. The pair will have to find a new team of lawyers since Pichit and Thana are likely to face disciplinary action from the Lawyers' Council of Thailand. Their licences could be revoked.

The Supreme Court did not rule on the ownership of the money. As observers, we only want to ask who owned the Bt2- million that was put in a gift box intended to bribe the court. Did Pichit or Thana withdraw Bt2 million from their own bank accounts and wrap it as a gift? Or did either one of them take the Bt2 million from someone else in order to attempt to bribe the court? If the latter, who was that someone else?