The Supreme Court yesterday upheld the Appeal Court's acquittal of two former red-shirt guards accused of launching a grenade attack on a group of rival protesters in 2014.
Former United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship guards, Narongsak Phlai-aram, 32, and Peerapong Sinthusonthichat, 43, were acquitted of attempted murder.
Prosecutors who appealed against the lower court acquittal accused Narongsak and Mr Peerapong of firing an M79 grenade and shooting at People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protesters on Sawankhalok Road near Saowanee intersection in Bangkok's Dusit district on March 29, 2014.
The court of first instance originally sentenced them to 43 years and four months in prison each, but the Appeal Court later acquitted them.
Despite their acquittal, the court ordered that they remain in custody while prosecutors appealed against the ruling.
The Supreme Court yesterday agreed with the Appeal Court that there was no solid evidence proving Narongsak and Mr Peerapong's involvement in the grenade attack.
According to the ruling, the maximum penalty in this case was the death sentence so prosecutors had to present highly credible evidence. But the evidence against the pair was based on hearsay, according to the Supreme Court judges who gave the accused the benefit of the doubt just as the Appeal Court had.
Hoqwever, Narongsak was unluckier in an earlier case. In that case, the Supreme Court on Jan 16 upheld an Appeal Court ruling sentencing Narongsak to 35 years and four months in prison for his role in another grenade attack on PDRC protesters outside Shinawatra Tower 3 in Chatuchak district of Bangkok on March 7, 2014.
The grenades landed about 40 metres away from the protesters, exploding and damaging a building belonging to SC Asset Corporation Plc, said the court ruling.
