Death sentence for 2004 activist murder

Charoen

Two men pleaded guilty to gunning down Charoen in 2004. The victim reportedly upset local influential figures when he led a protest against the construction of a power plant in Tambon Bo Nok in Prachuap Khiri Khan's Mueang district.

Charoen had also told a Senate committee about alleged attempts by local influential people to grab public land in Tambon Bo Nok.

The gunmen had confessed that Thanu - a lawyer by profession - hired them to kill Charoen so that Jua Hinkaew could benefit from the power-plant construction.

Jua, 71, was a former kamnan of Tambon Bo Nok. Although the gunmen died in jail pending court trials, the court said their testimonies and related evidence firmly counted against Thanu who received the death penalty.

The court, however, gave Jua the benefit of the doubt until more evidence is produced. Jua is to be held in detention pending appeal.

However, the court yesterday dropped the murder charge against the other suspect in the case, Manoch Hinkaew, on grounds of weak evidence.

Manoch, a Prachuap Khiri Khan provincial councillor, was found to have had many phone conversations with one of the gunmen but no one knew what had been said.

Charoen's wife Korn-uma Pongnoi,was not present in the courtroom when the verdict was read because, she said, she was afraid justice would not be done.

Her husband's body has yet to be cremated, in line with his decision. Charoen had told his wife that if he was killed and the culprits were not brought to justice, his body should be cremated in front of Government House.

"But now, some justice has been done. So, we have to think about what to do next," Korn-uma said after hearing about Thanu's death sentence.

However, she remains worried about how the Court of Appeals and Supreme Court will decide on this case.