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Urging the Provincial Attorney of Kanchanaburi to not file a prosecution towards Mr. Wuth Boonlert, and releasing a Trialwatch report for the case where he was falsely accused due to political motives. (Published on 31st August, 2020)
On August 31st 2020, the Cross Cultural Foundation filed a letter to the Provincial Attorney of Kanchanaburi, as well as a copy to the Attorney General to inform them of additional relevant information pertaining to the justice considerations of Mr. Wuth Boonlert, who is the accused in the criminal case at Sai Yok Police Station 342/2019 between Mr. Panachkorn Potibundit, the accusor, and Mr. Samak Donnapee.
The Cross Cultural Foundation sees that this criminal case against Karen human rights defender Mr Wuth Boonlert is not in good faith with freedom of criticism.
In addition, the messages and comments on social media are thoughts that the accusation of the case might be because Mr. Panachkorn Potibundit is displeased with how Mr. Wuth Boonlert had once inspected Mr Panachkorn Potibundit on his actions and motives before. Thus, if this case continues as is, it will be a disservice to the public and can be viewed as government officials using the law as a tool to control and force citizens.
Since Mr Wuth Boonlert is a human rights defender with various responsibilities and duties, the Cross Cultural Foundation has provided Mr Wuth Boonlert with legal representation and support. Wuth Boonlert was acting to protect minority rights for Karen communities, in conjunction with the UN Declaration of Human Rights Defenders 1998
The Cross Cultural Foundation has filed a letter to the public prosecutor responsible for the case, in which the letter consists of how Mr Wuth Boonlert believes that the reasoning behind his accusation by Mr Panachkorn Potibundit was that he was dissatisfied with Mr Boonlert’s working role, as Mr Potibundit is close friends with Mr Chaiwat Limlikitaksorn, in which Mr Boonlert was a defendant in a case in the year 2019 where Mr Limlikitaksorn was the accuser.
Later, the Minburi Criminal Court dismissed the case red 5967/2562, in which this case was observed by the Clooney Foundation for Justice which published a Trial Watch Fairness Report which follows up on the trial of Mr Wuth Boonlert, indigenous rights activist, and Mr Samak Donnapee, former National Park service officer, in which both these parties were charged with defamation based on their comments on social media.
Thus, the prosecutor stated that the information leads to an indication that the government is using the National Forest grounds for personal gain and this case against Mr Wuth Boonlert is a enforcement of misuse of criminal law, which might have political motivations behind it.
The Trial Watch report details can be found here:
Translation of the verdict: https://cfj.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Indictment_Government-of-Thailand-and-Chaiwat-Limlikhitaksorn-v.-Wuth-Boonlert-and-Samak-Donnapee.pdf
Further details:
Ms Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation 065 9793836