Issues raised about the Apichart situation
PUBLISHED: 6 Dec 2024 at 04: 00
The Department of Corrections ( DoC ) has confirmed the release of Apichart Jansakulporn, better known as Sia Piang, a businessman sentenced to 48 years in prison for his involvement in the rice-pledging scandal.
Apichart served seven years in prison and was released on October 9.
DoC director-general Sahakarn Phetnarin confirmed yesterday to a TV news network that Apichart had been given a particular release as a result of his severe disease. He is now receiving care at Ramathibodi Hospital and is not required to wear an EM ring.
Apichart, convicted in 2015 for problem related to government-to-government wheat sales offers, was immediately sentenced to 48 years in prison. However, many royal clemency reduced his word to 12 decades, 8 months, and 12 days. His word is scheduled to come into effect on July 27, 2034.
Former Democrat Party MP Watchara Phetthong, who brought focus to Apichart’s first discharge, has raised fears about the clarity of the selection.
He has requested an investigation into the DoC’s management of the case by filing a petition with Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra. Mr. Watchara has demanded that Ms. Paetongtarn release Apichart’s release within 15 days and that any government officials who participated in facilitating his release been held responsible.
Mr. Watchara even criticized the DoC’s lack of public information, arguing that the situation is still of national attention because of its major economic impact on the state. He further questioned whether all of Apichart’s legal and financial responsibilities, including the 16.9-billion-baht settlement with accrued interest owed cooperatively by plaintiffs in the case, had been settled before his discharge.
This development comes in response to the new releases of other well-known prisoners in the same situation. Previous commerce secretary Boonsong Teriyaphirom, sentenced to 48 times for his part in the rice-pledging incident, served only seven times before receiving royal clemency. He was given a placed word, and he was released from his Chiang Mai residence on Monday. Also, his lieutenant, Poom Sarapol, originally sentenced to 36 times, was released in September after serving seven times.
Spectators speculated that these releases might be a part of efforts to bring former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra back to power.