22 December 2009
Thailand Convicts Police for Brutality in Anti-Drug Campaign
Human Rights Watch has noted that the conviction of eight police officers for crimes in anti-drug operations should be a catalyst for the Thai government to end police abuses. On December 8, 2009, the Talingchan district court in Bangkok found Police Captain Nat Chonnithiwanit and seven other members of the 41st Border Patrol Police (BPP) unit guilty of assault with weapons, illegal detention, and extortion. Each was sentenced to five years of imprisonment.