It has been 2 months since Auttasit Nussa and Weeraphab Wongsaman filed a complaint against police at the Din Daeng Police Station for beating them while in custody. The incident allegedly occurred on 29 October 2021. Thus far, there has been little progress in the investigation, however.
Auttasit and his wounds.
According to the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF), Auttasit filed a complaint with the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and later returned there on 12 January with a CrCF lawyer to give testimony. Weeraphab’s testimony has been postponed until 21 January due to his own inconvenience.
Auttasit was asked to give information to a sub-committee consisting representatives from the Institute of Forensic Medicine; the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, and the DSI, a complex process that according to CrCF has delayed the investigation.
Despite repeated requests, police have not provided Auttasit with CCTV footage from the evening or the results of medical check-up he was given before being released. The officers he accuses of beating him remained on duty and there is no indication that an internal disciplinary investigation committee has been established.
Auttasit and his lawyer asked the sub-committee to hasten the gathering of witness testimony and evidence. They also asked that Auttasit be allowed to return to the police station to reenact the crime and name the officers involved.
In addition, they called upon the DSI to take up Auttasit’s case as a special investigation case as soon as possible.
Auttasit and Weeraphab were injured while attending a candle vigil held for Warit Somnoi, a youth shot by an unidentified party in front of Din Daeng police station on the night of 16 August 2021 after a protest at a nearby Din Daeng Intersection was dispersed.
The candle vigil was dispersed by the police. Police allegedly beat and threatened the protesters before subjecting them to a regular interrogation process after their arrest.
Auttasit says that he was taken inside the police station along with another protester. There, he claims he was beaten by police who sought information that he did not know. They reportedly told him that if he died during the beatings, they would make his death look like an accident.
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