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Published on August 9, 2007

Pol Col Charnchai Netrirat-takarn was named as the person who offered Tribunal judge ML Krairerk Kasemsan, also the Supreme Court vice president, a Bt30-million bribe in an effort to prevent TRT from being dissolved.

According to documents submitted by the police to the court, Krairerk confirmed that Charnchai tried to bribe him to vote against the TRT dissolution, but Krairerk rejected the offer.

Pol Lt-General Chongrak Chutanont, a National Police Commission assistant commissioner, said he had solid evidence in the form of testimonies from judges and former senior judges including Krairerk.

Krairerk provided evidence that made the court issue the arrest warrant for the colonel, he said.

Although the judges did not accept the bribes, the offence was committed and the suspect should be prosecuted, Chongrak said.

After the arrest warrant was issued, reporters went to

Charnchai's house in Soi Charansanitwong 69 - the same entrance to the residence of deposed premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

Someone was seen in the three-floor townhouse but the lights were quickly turned off and the curtains drawn when reporters stood at the front of the house.

One of Charnchai's neighbours, who refused to be named, said Charnchai had come back from abroad last week. Just around midnight on Tuesday, Charnchai's wife and daughter had removed some of their possessions from the house, the neighbour said.

Former TRT key member Pongthep Thepkarnchana dismissed allegations that TRT was behind the bribe. He said he did not even know the telephone numbers of the judges, and it was not possible that any TRT members tried to offer bribes.

Justice Ministry permanent secretary Charan Phakdithanakul dropped the bombshell bribery allegation in June, saying a senior official tried to secure a "not guilty verdict" for TRT by offering money to the judges.

Later, Weera Somkwamkid, secretary-general to the Anti-Corruption People's Network, asked the police to investigate a report that high-ranking court officials and a police colonel who graduated from Thammasat University's Faculty of Law in 1966 had offered bribes to Supreme Court judges who also acted as Constitution Tribunal judges.

An ad-hoc panel of the Supreme Court found that court officials who are not judges were involved in the bribery. They knew that Krairerk and Supreme Court judge Somchai Pongsatha were offered bribes and that both refused to accept.

A former senior judge, who refused to be named, said an attempt to bribe judges was also made in July 2006 in the case involving three former Election Commission members - Vasana Puemlarp, Prinya Nakchudtree and Virachai Naewboonnien.

A judge in charge of the case was offered a bribe but rejected it, the senior judge said.

The EC trio were found guilty of election fraud and sent to jail.

Kesinee Taengkhio

The Nation