Surachate demands bribe case ruling

A lawyer for former deputy police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn yesterday submitted a petition to the prime minister, seeking a legal ruling on a probe into suspected bribery involving gold as payment.

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Pol Gen Surachate's lawyer, Sanyapatchara Samart, urged Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul to request a legal opinion from the Council of State (CoS) regarding the handling of the so-called “gold bribery” case.

The move followed a decision by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to return the case file to the police, stating that the matter did not fall within its authority and should instead be submitted through the parliament speaker.

Mr Sanyapatchara alleged that the police subsequently attempted to seek alternative legal justifications by requesting opinions from the Office of the Attorney-General and the Lawyers Council, despite the CoS having previously ruled that such an approach was not permissible.

He questioned if this was why the matter had not been referred directly to the CoS.