Justice Ministry looking for 411 people that were falsely imprisoned people, says they’re owed compensation

Today, the Justice Ministry announced it is seeking 411 people who were wrongly prosecuted and detained. The Ministry wants them to know they can be compensated for their erroneous incarcerations.

The 411 people were tried and imprisoned in criminal cases but were eventually found to be not guilty and released, says Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin. 26 of the imprisoned people were in Bangkok, and the remained people came from other provinces.

Somskas says he has told the Department of Rights and Liberties Protection to find all of the people that were wrongfully imprisoned and let them know they are owed compensation due to the whole false imprisonment thing.

However, the department, despite trying to find the 411 people through the main database system, and contacting community leaders and their families, has had trouble tracking the former jail residents down. The department says the people did not go back to their homes that are logged in the official domicile registrations.

Somsak says the people are entitled to compensation if they file a request with the Office of the Judiciary as well as the Department of Rights and Liberties Protection,

As per 2001 compensation laws regarding criminal cases (amended in 2016) state that people who have their cases withdrawn or are found not guilty after they were prosectued in court and suffered detainment are owed compensation after they are let out of jail

The compensation entails:

• 500 baht per day of detention
• Medical expenses (provided they don’t go over 40,000 baht)
• Rehabilitation costs (provided they don’t go over 50,000 baht)
• Lost income (according to the daily labour wage of each province. It should be noted that for most provinces the daily minimum wage is just over 300 baht)
• Other expenses (provided they don’t go over 30,000 baht for legal proceedings)

However, if the person died, relatives are can claim 100,00 baht in compensation. (20,000 toward the funeral, 40,000 as lost financial support, and other damages, provided they don’t go over 40,000 baht.)

SOURCE: Bangkok Post