A Thai court has dismissed murder charges against four forestry officials in connection with the 2014 vanishing of a well-known land rights activist. The court cited a lack of substantial evidence in a case that had sparked outrage among various civil society organizations.
Back in April 2014, park rangers apprehended Pholachi “Billy” Rakchongcharoen within Kaeng Krachan National Park, located southwest of the capital city, Bangkok. However, he never made it to a police station for processing, and his whereabouts have remained a mystery ever since. Rakchongcharoen had been actively working to safeguard the rights of his ethnic Karen community members who had been displaced from the park.
In this recent verdict, a Bangkok court sentenced National Parks chief Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn to three years in prison due to the mishandling of Pholachi’s case in 2014. Nevertheless, the murder charges against Chaiwat and three other officials were dropped.
In an official statement, the court highlighted that DNA tests conducted on bone fragments found by investigators in a burnt oil drum discarded within the national park were insufficient to definitively link the bones to Pholachi, even though they matched a sample obtained from Pholachi’s mother. Furthermore, the court asserted that there was insufficient evidence to establish foul play in his disappearance.
Chaiwat has been granted bail and intends to appeal the sentence, as reported by local media.
Pholachi’s disappearance stands as just one of over 80 cases of enforced disappearances documented in Thailand since 1980, according to human rights organizations.
