The wrongful conviction of a fried pork vendor that hit the media headlines this past week attests to the fact that a pledge by those at the top of the Justice Ministry to get serious about the long overdue reform of the justice system is not going anywhere. Phisit Suwanpim, the vendor, was wrongfully convicted of stealing diamond jewellery worth about 15 million baht on Dec 28 last year. He was arrested in February this year by Bang Sao Thong police and, despite a plea for innocence, was thrown into jail, where he spent some six months.
In May, his family sought help from the Justice Ministry which, after another investigation, came up with new evidence to the court that led to his release.
Permanent secretary for justice Pol Col Dusadee Arayawuth stated the police investigation "was flawed and incomplete" and the real culprit has not been brought to justice.
We have heard such statements before from Pol Col Dusadee and some others in the Justice Ministry. Mr Phisit is not the first victim of the flawed justice system of this country.
His wrongful imprisonment reminds us of another high-profile scapegoat case involving a teacher in Sakon Nakhon who was thrown into jail after being wrongfully convicted in a fatal hit-and-run case.
Teacher Jomsap Saenmuangkhot petitioned for a retrial of the 2005 hit-and-run killing case in which she was sentenced to three years and two months in prison by the Supreme Court in 2013.
Ms Jomsap was released following a royal pardon in April 2015 after serving 18 months in prison. She had been convicted of reckless driving causing death. Ms Jomsap denied the allegation, insisting she had an alibi as she was with her family in Sakon Nakhon when the accident happened.
The wrongful imprisonment damaged her life. Ms Jomsap lost her job and one of her children had to drop out from school.
Although the Education Ministry said the woman could be reinstated to her teaching job, she has been struggling with a gigantic but inefficient bureaucratic system to have her teaching licence renewed. The sluggishness means she has remained unemployed nearly a year after her case came to light. Only when she sought help with the Prime Minister's Office last month did the Teachers' Council of Thailand agree to return her licence without condition.
The Jomsap case saw the Justice Ministry at odds with the Royal Thai Police, which fiercely defended its work. Police even threatened to sue those who disputed their handling of the case.
The ministry then pledged a clean-up of the system -- a move that so far still fails to impress anyone.
Statistics released earlier this year by the Legal Aid Centre for Debtors and Victims of Injustice under the Justice Ministry showed that since 2013 there were more than 140 complaints involving alleged wrongful conviction.
Needless to say, the number of scapegoats, generally those at the lower end of the social spectrum who lack resources to access help from the centre, must be much higher. Sadly, there are many scapegoats who died in prison without a chance to clear their names while leaving their families struggling with hardship and stress.
Mr Phisit and Ms Jomsap are just a few scapegoat cases that became known to the public. Both cases demonstrated faulty procedures involving the work of police, which is the first step of the justice process.
The Justice Ministry is to fork out 100,000 baht in compensation to Mr Phisit and it opens a chance for him to sue the police. But what for? The sum is ridiculously small -- it cannot compensate the losses he experienced from day one of his legal battle. It will be no surprise if he decides not to sue. Another court case would mean a lot of time and effort.
It's sad that while some authorities have no hesitation in throwing innocent people into jail in order to complete their work, quite a few wrongdoers with wealth and influence, such as a certain young member of the Yoovidhya clan, manage to escape from the long arm of the law as most of their charges expire with the statute of limitations.
This reinforces the need for a change in the system that will put in place a mechanism to ensure checks and balances and transparency in police work. Under the proposed change, police work will be subject to examination by other parties, including prosecutors, district heads or governors.
Some reform advocates have suggested that there should be an office for inquiry officials that is separate from the police for the sake of transparency.
The Phisit and Jomsap cases make it clear that such a change is inevitable, or police reform will be just a cosmetic job that is meaningless and the police will be trapped in a cycle of decay that strips the service of public respect.
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