The mother of an inmate found hanged in a cell at Bangkok's Klong Prem Central Prison called on the Justice Ministry yesterday to investigate her son's death.

Siri Mills said she wanted the ministry to check if her son Yutthapol Chomsuwan, 22, serving a seven-year sentence for robbery and drug charges, was murdered by prison guards who then made his death appear to be a suicide.

Siri said that, prior to her son's death, she had filed a complaint against deputy chief of prison zone 1, Wichian Buaphan, and five prison officials for gambling in prison and bullying Yutthapol.

Her son had asked officials to return Bt300 he had paid to get himself moved to another zone of the prison because the move never happened, she said.

Yutthapol was then bullied by officials, who accused him of having drugs and put him in an isolated cell - until his body was found hanging on May 28, she said.

"I don't believe he killed himself. The prison said it happened at 2.30pm but I went there at 8pm and his body was still soft, his tongue was not outside his mouth, the chain was still at his ankles and the material to hang him was a thick blanket," she said.

"I visited him twice a week and learned he was harassed after the complaint was filed and was very scared. Moreover, he would have been out next year."

Siri said she was told by other inmates that Yutthapol was beaten by a guard and five guard assistants using clubs until he passed out and they then hanged him alive.

"I never thought my son would die because of a complaint against some influential figures in prison. I want him to be their last victim.

"My son did wrong, was convicted by a court and served his time in jail, but these people have no right to brutally kill him like this," she said.

Siri, married to a British man, said she had sent details about the case to the National Human Rights Commission, the Ombudsman of Thailand and a British-based human rights agency.

If anything happened to her, it would point to the attackers, she noted.

Siri said she had previously transferred Bt14,000 to a bank account of a prison official so that her son would not be moved to the more crowded Central Correction for Young Offenders in Pathum Thani.

Inspector-General for Justice Paisal Wichainkeu said the ministry would probe the case and ensure justice to all sides. If the officials did wrong, they would face criminal and disciplinary punishment.

He said the Bt14,000 allegedly paid to an official showed possible corruption. The ministry would look into the accused officials' backgrounds to see if they had a history of assaulting inmates, he said.

Corrections Department chief Natthee Jitsawang told The Nation that, prior to Yutthapong's death, the complaint against prison officials was filed to the department but a probe found no wrongdoing nor evidence. The department reported the result to the plaintiff.

However, since her son died and a complaint [alleging assaults and murder] was filed, the department would set a panel headed by an inspector-general to investigate and report the result in two weeks.

Yutthapol's autopsy result will be released by the Institute of Forensic Medicine next Wednesday.

Anan Paengnoy,

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation