DRUG RAID: Kin want probe into son's jail death

Doubt cast on initial autopsy citing respiratory failure in wake of
commando assault on house in Ayutthaya

The couple whose Ayutthaya house was raided on suspicion of producing
illegal drugs will ask the Forensic Institute to conduct an autopsy on the
body of their son, as they suspect he was murdered in prison, family member
said yesterday.

Adisorn Satakurama served terms in Bangkok Special Prison on a theft
offence and died on Friday, two days after 50 commandos sprayed bullets
into his parents' house.

Adisorn had also been convicted of processing heroin and faced a suspended
jail term in 2002.

Justice Minister Pongthep Thepkanchana yesterday insisted Adisorn had died
of an immune-system malfunction.

Pongthep said Adisorn had been treated as a sick prisoner ever since he had
been in jail, after a physical check-up revealed he suffered from an immune
system malfunction.

"Whether he was silenced in prison, I couldn't say: we are still probing to
find the truth. But the fact of the matter is he died of disease, and there
is proof of that,'' Pongthep said.

Kanittha Satakurama, younger sister of Adisorn, said that after checking
the body of her brother, her family had decided to ask the Forensic Science
Institute to conduct another autopsy today.

"There were several suspicious points. His hip bone seemed to be broken,''
she said.

Forensic Science Institute deputy director Khunying Pornthip Rojanasunant
confirmed that Adisorn's family had requested the autopsy.

Maj-General Kosin Hinthao, Crime Suppression Division commander, said that
Dr Pisit Thammasuriya, who conducted the first autopsy on Adisorn, had
cited respiratory-system failure as the cause of death. He added that if
the family wanted the record of their son's physical check-ups while in
prison he would be ready to assist them.

Nissai Satakurama, Adisorn's father, said he did not know his son had been
jailed until yesterday, when he saw the family crying upon receiving news
of the death. He admitted he had not been close to his son and had only
seen him once in six months.

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said he had assigned Deputy Prime
Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh to look into the probe over the
controversial raid, which has been strongly criticised and deemed a
human-rights violation.

Piyanuch Thamnukasetchai

WIRIYA SATHIRAKUL