A mother whose son was found hanging in a cell at Klong Prem prison revealed yesterday that jail officials suspected to be involved in his death had been accused in court of running a gambling ring and assaulting an inmate in conflict with them.

Siri Mills, whose son Yutthapol Chomsuwan, 22, was found dead on May 28, said officials from the National Human Rights Commission had visited the prison yesterday, taking pictures and asking inmates more questions about Yutthapol's death.

Siri claims her son was killed because of a dispute with Wichian Buaphan, the deputy chief of prison zone 1, and five other jail officials.

She said she had been helped by inmates in the prison who provided information and that after results from the autopsy on her son's body were released next Wednesday she would launch a court battle against the accused officials.

Siri revealed that the officials had been in court before, after a lawsuit filed on August 25, 2001, in which a foreign inmate was accused of possessing drugs.

One witness, an inmate from Swaziland, told the Criminal Court on June 18, 2002 that he had seen the defendant taken by three assistant prison guards to meet Wichian in the office. He said he had later learned from a prison guard assistant that the defendant had been taken to a solitary cell for possessing drugs and that he had later been assaulted in the cell, according to the court record.

The Swazi inmate said he had been told the defendant had a conflict with Wichian over gambling activities that Wichian had set up in the prison, because the defendant sometimes did not give the money he gained from gambling to Wichian.

He had also witnessed Wichian bullying the defendant on several occasions. The inmate also gave a map of the prison gambling den to the court.

The defendant testified that he had won Bt40,000 in cash gambling and had asked Wichian to mind Bt30,000 of the money for him because the jail did not permit prisoners to carry cash. Wichian did not return the money when the defendant asked for it, and the prisoner had been bullied since then by officials, the court record said.

The lawsuit was dismissed by the court on the grounds that there was not sufficient evidence to convict the defendant and that it seemed to target only the defendant, who had a conflict with jail officials, while other inmates in the same group were shielded as witnesses.

Following the court ruling, Wichian was moved to run security at the gate of the prison. He was later restored to his old post.

In Yutthapong's case, the young man had asked officials to return Bt300 he had paid to get himself moved to another part of the jail because the move never happened, Siri said. They had been in conflict since then, and Yutthapol had been harassed, which prompted Siri to file a complaint at the Corrections Department against the officials for having a gambling ring and harassing her son.

Yutthapol was later accused of possessing drugs, which he denied. Witnesses later said he had been beaten up by Wichian and five assistant guards until he passed out. He was taken to a single cell, where his body was found hanging, she said.

Corrections Department chief Natthee Jitsawang said he had set up a panel to investigate the case, which should report findings in a week. If the officials were deemed to be guilty as accused, they would face severe disciplinary punishment then criminal charges.

If the probe found Wichian had been involved in the inmate's death, the official would be transferred out of Klong Prem to prevent him taking action against witnesses, he said.

Anan Paengnoy,

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

The Nation