Bangkok – Italian Thai Co Ltd CEO Premchai Karnasutra has heard three more charges stemming from his alleged illegal wildlife hunt and has been released on a bond of 300,000 baht and on the condition that he remain in the country.
The CEO heard the additional charges at the Natural Environment Police Division Headquarters on Wednesday. The charges are illegal possession of elephant ivory, illegal possession of firearms and ammunition and attempted bribery of state agents.
Commander of the Natural Environment Police Division, Pol Maj Gen Panya Pinsuk noted that Premchai’s wife, Kanita Karnasutra, and the person who validated their ivory purchase, Wandee Sombhumi, also heard charges against them on a previous date.
Premchai has been told to explain the origins of his firearms as they were all found to be unregistered. He was also presented to the Criminal Court for a 12 day detainment period based on the ivory possession charge against him, the most severe of the three charges. However he was granted release on 300,000 baht bail. He remarked while leaving the court that he was feeling downtrodden as Thai society believes he committed the crime of illegally killing a black panther, proclaiming his innocence, and asking that the matter be left to the court.
Activists concerned about the case have worn masks of the slain big cat as a symbol of protest on several occasions and environmentalists have pledged to keep up pressure. The trending Thai catchphrase “The black cat will not die for free” has even been repeated by police. Graffiti artists have sprayed Bangkok’s walls with paintings of the black cat, and when officials reportedly washed off the images, new black cat graffiti surfaced nearby.
