The military court detained three lese majeste suspects accused of claiming falsely about the monarchy for personal benefits, one of whom is a well known fortune-teller involved in organising ‘Bike for Dad’.
At around 3 pm Wednesday, 21 October 2015, the police officers brought Suriyan Sutjritpolwongse, aka Mo Yong, a well-known fortune-teller, Jirawong W., his close associate, and Pol Maj Prakrom W., an inspector of the Technology Crime Suppression Division, to the Military Court of Bangkok pending the custody permission for the three.
The three are accused by the Thai Military under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese majeste law, for falsely claiming about Thai monarchy for personal benefits.
At 3:20 pm, the military court granted the custody permission for the three lese majeste suspects.
The three will be held under first pretrial custodial period for 12 days at the remand facility in the 11th Army Division in Nakhon Pathom Province, west of Bangkok with the possibility of the custody permission being renewed if it is deemed approval by the military court.
The police officers and a commando unit maintain tight security in front of the military court as the three suspects were brought in.
According to Matichon Online, Pol Lt Gen Sriwara Rangsipramanakul , the Assistant Police Chief now heading a 19-member investigative team on lese majeste cases which was established especially for the case, said that the three pleaded guilty.
Sriwara mentioned that during the interrogation the three suspects also alleged the involvement of eight police officers in the Central Investigation Bureau on the case. The identities of the eight are kept confidential. They were transferred from their posts in the police force earlier this week.
The officer told media that more arrest warrants will be issued for the suspects in the case.
The head of the lese majeste investigation team added that the three had been committing crime for more than two months before their arrests and that they would be charged for more than one-count each under the lese majeste law, which carries a maximum sentence of 15-year imprisonment per offense.
Suriyan, the fortune-teller is an advisor to the publicity committee of the upcoming ‘Bike for Dad’ event, a cycling rally to honor the King, which will take place around the King’s birthday on 5 December.
In August, Suriyan was involved in the organisation of ‘Bike for Mom’, a cycling event to honour HM the Queen on 16 August 2015, where cyclists joined Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn and other members of the Royal Thai Household to cycle around Bangkok and in other parts of the country.
On 16 October 2015, Naewna News Online, reported a rumour that Suriyan was arrested at his house by police officers on allegations of violating Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese majeste law.
There were rumors that he was held incommunicado by the military as he disappeared from the public scenes since last week.