BANGKOK, June 30 – Thailand will ask Hong Kong authorities to extradite fugitive former cabinet minister Jakrapob Penkair to stand trial in the kingdom after a military court issued an arrest warrant for his alleged involvement with war weapons, deputy national police chief Pol Gen Somyot Poompanmoung said Sunday.
Commenting on the military court which issued warrants for the arrest of Mr Jakrapob and seven others for alleged involvement in more than 10 cases involving war weapons, Gen Somyot said that the warrants were issued following investigation and confessions by arrested suspects plus the seizure of a large amount of weapons.
Asked whether Mr Jakrapob was still in Hong Kong, Gen Somyot said that Mr Jakrapob was found to have stayed there recently.
The Royal Thai Police will coordinate with the Office of the Attorney General and the Foreign Affairs Ministry this week to request Hong Kong to extradite Mr Jakrapob. Gen Somyot said there should not be any problem because there is an extradition treaty between both parties.
Mr Jakrapob, a former minister attached to the Prime Minister’s Office in the government of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, faces several other charges including his failure to report to the National Council for Peace and Order NCPO) which seized power on May 22.
On June 24, Mr Jakrapob reportedly helped set up an anti-coup movement called the Organisation of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy (FT-HD).
The list of founding members of the anti-coup Free Thai board showed Mr Jakrapob as executive secretary and spokesman of the so-called Free Thais.
Former Pheu Thai Party leader and former Interior Minister Charupong Ruengsuwan, also in exile abroad, is secretary-general of the Free Thais board.
As many people have resisted reporting to the council, Gen Somyot said he has ordered Asst National Police Chief Pol Lt Gen Chakthip Chaichinda and Metropolitan Police Deputy Chief Pol Maj Gen Amnuay Nimmano to speed up the process to arrest them.
These people include Saran Chuichai, aka “Aum Neko”, a university student, whose whereabouts were not known.
