Supporters of the election commissioners protest outside the Criminal Court after learning of the guilty verdict handed down yesterday.

The day was filled with joy, relief and gratitude towards the judicial system on one side, but a sense of disappointment and anger on the other.

This was visible in the morning as both supporters and opponents of Election Commission (EC) chief Vasana Puemlarp and his two fellow commissioners Prinya Nakchudtree and Virachai Naewboonnien were mostly wearing yellow shirts as an expression of loyalty to His Majesty the King.

Vasana and plaintiff Thaworn Senneam, deputy secretary-general of the opposition Democrat Party, both wore yellow silk ties.

But that's all they had in common.

"There are both good and bad people wearing yellow," said Theervuth Chatanukul, a supporter of the anti-Thaksin alliance, who himself was donning yellow.

"We can't tell who is who because it's all yellow," quipped another member of the anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy.

Vasana received both cheers and jeers as he and his colleagues    entered the Criminal Court. His opponents verbally abused him at the court while waiting for the judges to arrive.

"I want to see how thick his face really is," said one, a Democrat Party member.

Nothing had prepared Vasana and his two colleagues for the damning hour-long court verdict, however.

On several occasions, the female judge who read the verdict while three of the male presiding judges sat alongside said that the Election Commission had illegally "aided" the ruling party.

Vasana looked unperturbed as he stood, listening to the judges say the EC had "caused damage to the country", "broken the law", and committed malfeasance with clear intention in mind.

The elections, said the judges, were not "fair" and the defendants each deserved four years in prison (out of a maximum of 10) and would not be allowed to vote for the next 10 years.

It was a damning verdict for those who were supposed to organise and supervise the election.

"Long live His Majesty! Long live His Majesty!" the anti-Thaksin crowd shouted when the verdict was announced.

Vasana forced a smile but his two elderly colleagues appeared not to care less as they were led away to a VIP room to lodge an appeal.

Vasana's legal team made frantic attempts to ask the court to allow the three to be released on bail - a significant matter as some legal experts say if and when they're behind bars, their status as election commissioners will automatically be over.

"It's over, the game is over," one EC legal official confided to The Nation at 3pm. "I'm just doing my job [in helping the three commissioners]."

Twice they tried and failed. The Criminal Court and then the Appeal Court refused to grant them  release on bail. Another judge from the Criminal Court, which refused the first bail request, added insult to injury when he stated categorically in front of the media pack that the commissioners' lack of impartiality had caused "serious damage" to the country and wasted Bt2 billion of taxpayers' money.

Despite the criticism following the election, said the judge who refused to grant bail, the commissioners "continued to work normally as if no damage had occurred".

The judge said that "violence could break out in the future" if the three were allowed to organise yet another election.

After the court handed down the sentence, Democrat secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban gave an interview to the media outside the courtroom.

Supporters of the EC trio hurled flowers and plastic bottles at Suthep, forcing him to leave the building through a back door.

In the afternoon, scores of police  were sent in to reinforce security in the court compound. Altogether there were about 150 officers providing order.

By 4pm, the Bangkok Remand Prison provided a new air-conditioned Toyota van to transport the EC trio - an ominous sign, as if they knew their second attempt for bail with the Appeal Court would also be refused.

Smelling blood, Chat Thai Party deputy leader Chuwit Kamolvisit turned up. He said he happened to be passing the area and decided to drop by with three packs of fried rice and Thai coffee for the three commissioners, knowing that it would be hard for them to get good food in jail.

He said he was neither there to support nor laugh at the trio, but added that justice does exist.

"The law of Karma is now propelled by rocket. We didn't have to wait until the next life to see justice being served," he told journalists.

Hearing this, some of Vasana's supporters became visibly upset and cursed Chuwit aloud.

"We don't like the verdict," said one female supporter. "Is there justice?" asked another, one of the 200 EC supporters who had been there since the morning. They harassed Chuwit to the point where police had to intervene.

The Appeal Court refused to grant bail shortly after 6pm.

"[Vasana] hasn't told me yet what he will do [regarding his duties as EC chief]," the defence lawyer Choosak Senaboonyarith told The Nation.

He said an appeal to the Supreme Court for bail and also for the court to reconsider the verdict would be made as soon as possible. He said, however, that he is no longer sure if the three are still election commissioners.

As the police prepared to take the three away, Choosak, who looked visibly tired after a long day, said the fight was not yet over, even though the commissioners were now behind bars and despite there being at least three more legal cases pending against them for other election-related irregularities.

Pravit Rojanaphruk

 The Nation