The relatives of a teenage drug suspect murdered in Kalasin in 2004, as well as their lawyer, have demanded police start looking for his real killers after the Supreme Court yesterday overturned the convictions of five of six policemen tried for the murder.
Pikul Promjan and Rassada Manoorassada said they respected the Supreme Court's ruling but were unhappy about it.
Ms Pikul is the aunt of Kiattisak Thitbunkrong, the 17-year-old drug suspect, and Mr Rassada the lawyer of the victim's family.
They said the ruling meant the real killers were still on the loose and the Royal Thai Police must search for them.
The court ruled the testimony of the only witness at the trial did not carry enough weight to substantiate the charges against them. The testimony was flawed and not convincing, the court said.
The ruling led to the release of Pol Snr Sgt Maj Angkhan Khammunna, 54, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Sutthinan Nonthing, 49, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Phansin Uppanan, 48, Pol Lt Col Samphao Indi, 57, and Pol Lt Col Sumit Nansathit, 51.
The sixth man convicted, Pol Col Montri Sibunlue, 68, earlier jumped bail and is still on the run.
Prosecutors and the victim's father Kittisap Thitbunkrong filed the complaint against the six, at Muang police station in Kalasin on July 22-23, 2004.
The lawsuit also charged that the six officers tried to conceal the murder by hiding the victim's body in a hut next to a paddy field in Roi Et's Chan Han district.
Between July 30, 2004 and April 27, 2005, Pol Lt Col Samphao, Pol Col Montri and Pol Lt Col Sumit had allegedly threatened a number of people to be false witnesses and offered to give them an alibi, the lower courts heard.
The Appeal Court in 2015 upheld death sentences for Pol Snr Sgt Maj Angkhan and Pol Snr Sgt Maj Phansin, but commuted Pol Snr Sgt Maj Sutthinan's sentence to 20 years. Pol Lt Col Samphao was given life imprisonment, and Pol Lt Col Sumit and Pol Col Montri were sentenced to five years behind bars.
The 2004 murder occurred against the backdrop of then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's controversial war on drugs.
