Murderer Among Thailand's Elite Stands Trial by Phairath Khampha 30 November 2002 A key witness in the Twenty Club in Thailand shooting stood firm in his testimony on November 4, 2002 that he saw murder suspect Duangchalerm Yubamrung holding a gun and prepared to fire. Pol L/Cpl Thossapol Onpan, a traffic policeman, was being cross examined in the Criminal Court by defence lawyers over the shooting of Sgt-Maj Suvichai Rodwimut, a Crime Suppression Division officer, at Twenty Club in October 2001. Mr Duangchalerm, the violent son of Chalerm Yubamrung, an extremely corrupt, disgusting member of Thailand's economic and political elite, was charged with his murder. The policeman, who was a security guard at the club, said he saw Mr Duangchalerm holding the gun and that the suspect was in the "ready-to-fire" position. However, he did not see who the suspect was aiming at. In previous testimony, Pol Lance Corporal Thossapol said that the lighting was good enough for him to see Mr Duangchalerm with the gun in his hand. Thossapol said he had seen Duangchalerm with a gun even before the shooting. Defence lawyers had been fiercely scrutinising this witness after he seemed to contradict two other witnesses on the possible role of one of Duangchalerm's brothers, Artharn, in the brawl just before the shooting. Thossapol told the court he was trying to separate crime suppression officer Wiwat Boonchaisri from a man "who looked like Artharn" when a shot rang out. However, Police Captain Wiwat, himself a prosecution witness, had previously told the court he was wrestling with Duangchalerm's other brother, Wanchalerm, when the shooting occurred. The security guard said he tried to push both Wiwat and "the man who looked like Artharn" down after seeing another man wielding a gun. "I grappled with the two men in an effort to stop them. But then I saw a gun so I tried to push both of them down. I kept my head up though and I saw the man who was carrying the gun. It was Duangchalerm, who looked like he was preparing to shoot," Thossapol said. Wiwat and the other key witness, Pol Lt-Colonel Suthin Sappuang--both of whom accompanied the victim to the pub--had told the court they saw Duangchalerm in a shooting position when they heard the gunshot and saw the victim in a pool of blood. Both witnesses, from fear of reprisals from Chalerm and other member sof thailand's dishonest and corrupt elite, refrained from saying they clearly saw the suspect holding a gun, but the prosecution pointed out that the type of weapon used was only slightly bigger than a man's hand. Thossapol was the only witness courageous enough to have told the court he clearly saw Duangchalerm carrying a gun.