Expat Oil Worker Alastair 'Ally' Cooper indicted under Thailand's Computer Crimes Act

Pattaya, 27th August 2015

Ally Cooper - indicted on Computer Crimes charges

An expat oil worker who has part time residence in Thailand has been indicted under Thailand's tough Computer Crimes Act.
Alastair 'Ally' Cooper was in Court 3 of Pattaya Provincial Court to face an indictment containing approximately 80 criminal charges which are a mixture of defamation, insult by publication and Computer Crimes Act charges.

In a case file by Drew Noyes, Cooper was indicted on the basis that convicted criminal and wanted fugitive Andrew Drummond had named him as a 'supporter' of Drummond's blog and therefore able to be jointly prosecuted with Drummond.

In case number 5746/2557 Cooper will face a range of charges, some in his own right and some jointly with Drummond - a warrant for Drummond's arrest was issued in this case in July of this year.

Drummond - implicated Cooper

Lawyers for Noyes said privately that this case would never have been able to proceed had Drummond not implicated Cooper - Drummond of course absconded whilst on bail from Thailnd earlier this year leaving Cooper to face the charges alone.

Initially Cooper's lawyer sought to adjourn in the basis that he had only recently been appointed, however the Court advised no adjournment would be allowed and would give Cooper a few minutes to get to the Court room before issuing an arrest warrant.

A somewhat bemused Cooper arrived a few minutes later and was told via his Thai wife who acted as an interpeter that he had to lodge a bail band of THB 100,000 (GBP 2,000) with the Court, surrender his passport and was told he  would not be allowed to travel overseas without the permission of the Court.

Cooper was held in detention cells while his bail was processed and released around 1700 hrs.

Sources say Cooper has been sought by Noyes and others for some time and at least two other cases failed to proceed amidst claims that Cooper was not resident in Thailand - a defence he negated by himself when he filed civil and criminal charges against Noyes along  with Brian Goudie and David Hanks.

Goudie was in Court today in company with police officers who were waiting to arrest Drummond if he appeared as Goudie had arrest warrants for Drummond issued in case numbers 1269/2556 and 1826/2556 in Koh Samui Provincial Court.

Further cases are expected to be waiting for Cooper on his next appearance.

Cooper was not required to enter a plea and was remanded on bail to appear on October 19th.

#andrewdrummond #allycooper

Drew Noyes - Andrew Drummond lies again!

Pattaya, 27th August 2015

Andrew Drummond - a 'liar' and 'incapable of telling the truth'.

A US businessman involved in ongoing litigation with a British journalist has spoken out today calling the journalist a 'liar'.

Drew Noyes spoke out from the US where he travelled to during an ongoing case and said that Andrew Drummond posting on his blog there was a warrant for Noyes,  or that anyone from Noyes' office had made any comments was 'a complete fabrication'.

Sources at Pattaya Court have confirmed there is no arrest warrant for Noyes.

Drummond,  who absconded whilst on bail in  a case filed by Noyes,  and who has at least five outstanding arrest warrants, was described previously on this site as being a journalist 'incapable of telling the truth' following dozens of inaccuracies being published on his site.

In recent months Drummond has failed to attend Court on at least five occasions, hencentral arrests warrants were issued, yet reports others are 'on the run' leading to accusations that Drummond is a hypocrite.

A number of complaints are now pending with the UK Independent Press Standards Organisation  (IPSO) and the UK Information Commissioners Office (ICO) regarding Drummond's site and web host Google is expected in coming months to come under increasing pressure to address accusations that Google is hosting Drummond's blog on it's Blogger platform in contravention of UK and European defamation,  data and privacy laws, sometimes referred to as the 'right to be forgotten'.

#andrewdrummond #allycooper

Thai Blogger formally indicted for sedition for Facebook post.

Bangkok, August 26th 2015

A Thai national arrested last month for allegedly preading a false rumour about Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the Thai Prime Minister and his wife has been formally indicted today.

At just after 3pm this afternoon 'Rinda' was formally indicted at the Office of the Thai Judge Advocate General, and then sent to the Bangkok Remand Prison,  before being released on bail later in the evening.

Rinda Parichabutr, was arrested by military police last month and charged with offenses under Articles 116 and 348 of the Penal Code, the laws on sedition and on spreading rumours that might cause public panic.

Prosecutors allege Parichabutr shared an online message through the Line chat application and Facebook that the PM and his wife sent about 10 billion baht to a secret bank account in Singapore, a statement now known to be false.

In addition to the sedition  offences, Rinda was also indicted of offenses under Article 14/2 of  Thailand's tough Computer Crimes Act for importing false information into the internet.

If found guilty under Article 116 alone, she could face up to seven years’ imprisonment.

Military officers arrested Rinda without a warrant on 8 July 2015 and detained her incommunicado for a night at a military base before transferring her to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) the next day.

Thai Court of Appeal says Web Site Owners beware - Andrew Drummond convicted again!

Pattaya 2nd August 2015

Andrew Drummond - Convicted again.

The Thai Region 2 Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal filed by fugitive Andrew Drummond and confirmed Pattaya Provincial Court made no error when it convicted Drummond in February 2014 of  criminal defamation.

In a decision that is expected to cause great concern for many web site administrators, the Court of Appeal found that web site owners can  be held responsible for defamatory comments by posters, even if the posters cannot be located or identified.

Pattaya Court had previously convicted Drummond, who defended the case on the basis that he was a 'journalist doing his job' but in sentencing Drummond the Court said:

'(*translation) The Defendant's occupation is as a journalist but he must only publish the truth'.

This follows a decision by the Court of Appeal in Bangkok confirming the defamation conviction of Thai Day website administrator for publishing comments made by media mogul Sondhi Limongkul.

Drummond, currently on the run with at least five outstanding arrest warrants, did not appear at the reading of the appeal, and the time to lodge any further appeal to the Supreme Court has now expired and as such the decision is final.

Drummond currently has outstanding arrest warrants in cases filed by Drew Noyes, Brian Goudie and Hanks. The new cases Drummond faces have been brought not only in relation to defamation, but aloso under Thailand's Computer Crimes Act.

Drummond site - Blocked!

Drummond's site has already been blocked by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT).

In the current case, Drummond was convicted in February of 2014 in a case filed by Drew Noyes and David Hanks, and jailed for four months and fined the equivalent of GBP 800. The jail sentence was suspended for 2 years. Drummond later appealed on the basis that he did not personally make the comment that referred to Hanks and Noyes as a 'pimp'.

At trial, Drummond had alleged that a third party 'Tony' had posted the comment and as such he was not personally guilty of any offence.

In a lengthy decision three judges of the Region 2 Court of Appeal said

(translation)* 'it is clear from the evidence that 'Tony' was the poster of the defamatory statement but both Plaintiffs filed the case on the basis that the Defendant (sic Andrew Drummond) was the owner of the website and allowed others to post comments and therefore the Defendant had the intention to allow third parties to post illegal comments'.

The Court in dismissing the appeal and confirming Drummond's conviction said:

(translation)* 'the Defendant was the owner of the web site and knew that 'Tony' was the person who had posted the comment but the Defendant failed to answer the charge that he did not delete the defamatory comments. The Court of First Instance found that the Defendant had aided and abetted the posting of the defamatory comments by allowing a third party to post on the website according to document No. 4 and therefore the Court of Appeal dismisses the appeal.

In a long week in the Courts, a case filed against David Hanks by the DSI  was dismissed and Hanks has sent a clear warning that a swathe of defamation cases can be expected.

Hanks - bloggers beware!

In what is thought to be a sign of things to come three web sites have already deleted material related to Noyes, Hanks and Goudie, being Sub Zero Siam Prachathai and Isaan 50 - at least 15 other web sites, 2 Thai Newspapers and Five UK newspapers are said to  have also been put on notice.

Of the three, Isaan 50 had previously carried dozens of articles linking to Drummond's blog, but all of the material has now been deleted - the three speculate out of fear of prosecution after seeing that Drummond had been convicted and subsequently absconded.

Hanks said today:

' We are very happy with this decision. Web site owners, newspapers and bloggers beware - the Court of First Instance and the Court of Appeal have made it clear that if you write anything that is not true, or let a third party post or use defamatory words on your website or post defamatory comments under Thai law you can be prosecuted and following this decision will be convicted and face jail'.

UPDATE:

Lawyers for Hanks have stated they will go back to Court to have Drummond's suspended sentence revoked and have sentenced to an immediate jail term due to an unspecified breach of the Court decision.

Drummond has repeatedly stated he will return to Thailand, but would of course be immediately taken into custody at any Thai border crossing.

Sources say Drummond would face an uphill battle to be bailed before trial as he absconded whilst on bail, has failed to comply with two Court orders and has failed to appear in at least five other cases in which he has outstanding arrest warrants.

#andrewdrummond #allycooper

Girvan man David Hanks lashes out at corrupt Thai police.

Pattaya, 19th August 2015

Hanks - calling for an investigation. 

An expat business man in Thailand has lashed out at what has been described as 'rampant corruption' in Thailand's Department of Special Investigations (DSI).

David Hanks, 67, formerly of Girvan in Ayrshire, was this week acquitted of charges of illegal money lending after Pattaya Provincial Court found there was 'no reliable evidence' against Hanks.

Following being exonerated, Hanks this week has called for an investigation into why he was even charged with the offences, alleging corrupt police officers had asked for payments of up to THB 3 million  (USD 100,000) at his arrest to 'make it go away'.

At Hanks' trial,  in a case that was investigated by Thailand' s Department of Special Investigations, it was revealed that Russian witnesses had been told by DSI officers to sign statements in Thai language that the 'translator' could not read.

The only evidence against Hanks was one Russian witness, Pavel Bulgakovic, who has told anti-corruption investigators  that he had been ordered to sign a statement eleven months after Hanks was arrested that had a photo of Hanks attached to it.

Bulgakovich later said that he had been threatened by DSI officers and signed the statement under duress, but did not know what it said as neither he nor his 'translator' could read Thai language.

A Pattaya police officer admitted at trial that he had obtained an arrest warrant for a third man, known only as 'David' who had a different physical description to Hanks and lived at a different address - and was at least 20 years younger than Hanks.

Sources at the Pattaya Prosecutors Office allegedly told Hanks they had previously  decided not to pursue the case as there was no evidence against Hanks - then DSI investigators miraculously provided the photo identification eleven months later that implicated Hanks.

Six other witnesses had told the Court at a pre-trial hearing that they had never seen or heard of Hanks, but had borrowed money from another Russian national Ayrat Khabiryanov.

Andrew Drummond - DSI informant

Hanks, who also has an ongoing legal action with convicted criminal and wanted fugitive blogger Andrew Drummond, has asked investigators to ascertain if the photo was provided to the DSI by Drummond, who has previously reported on his blog that he is a DSI informant and has provided information and documents to them.

Hanks said today in Pattaya:

'Now that the trial is over I am able to speak out.

My lawyers have told me I should never even have been charged with this offence, but while I have been relentlessly attacked in the media I was advised that I must not speak out before for fear of prejudicing the case.

This has dragged on for two years and as 67 year old man with no criminal record it has been an absolute nightmare.

The case has received wide media attention and I have been branded as 'Mafia' and a 'gangster' - I already filed a case for this against Andrew Drummond but he absconded and fled Thailand befoe he could be put on trial - but I now have an arrest warrant for him.

My lawyers have spoke  to anti-corruption police and are calling for an investigation into how a convicted criminal and wanted fugitive can be allowed to act as a police informant to help to bring false criminal charges.

Drummond and his supporters have engaged in an incredible campaign of media and Internet harassment and every last one of them that can be identified will be prosecuted.

I have instructed my lawyers to prosecute every newspaper and website, every blogger and every journalist, whether in Thailand or overseas, that has misreported this case'.

Pattaya Court issues arrest warrants for Sukanya Pechan.

Pattaya, 18th August 2015

Sukanya Pechan-arrest warrant issued.

Pattaya Provincial Court has issued two arrest warrants for a Thai National who ran a travel and legal consulting business in Pattaya.

Sukanya Pechan is being prosecuted by two of her ex business partners, John McDonald and Storm Simpson, for allegedly falsifying records of company meetings and failed to turn up at trial.

In case number 441/2558 and case number 442/2558 at a preliminary hearing in June this year the Court heard evidence that shareholder had not been advised of compay meetings, and that company assets had been sold and the funds could not be traced in company bank accounts.

P.S. Legal Cha Am - closed.

Pechan, who is rumoured to also have arrest warrants in Cha Am, near Petchaburi  where she set up two new offices for her new company, P.S. Legal Group, following her departure from her office in Pattaya in 2013.

The offices in Cha Am however also now have been closed and Pechan's current whereabouts are unknown.

Thai Court dismisses case against expat David Hanks - 'no reliable evidence' Hanks was involved.

Pattaya, 18th August 2015

David Hanks - all charges dismissed

Pattaya Provincial Court this morning dismissed a case filedby Thailand's so called elite Department of Special Investigations (DSI) involving an expat business man alleging he had been involved in an operation lending money to Russian tourists in the resort town of Pattaya, Thailand.

David John Hanks, formerly of Givan in Ayrshire had all charges dismissed after the Court found that there was 'no reliable evidence' to connect Hanks to the money lending operation that was operated by Russian national Ayrat Kabharov.

Khabarov at his arrest by the Department of Special Investigations

Six Russian witnesses who had given evidence at a pre-trial hearing all stated clearly that they had no idea who Hanks was, had never met him, and had only met Khabarov. Khabarov absconded whilst on bail last year.

The co-accused in the case, Alexander Komondorkiy did not appear at trial on health grounds, and the Court postponed his case and issued an arrest warrant so that Komondorsky could be detained should he attempt to enter Thailand.

Khabarov was arrested in June 2014 by Thailand's Department of Special Operations, but at the trial in August 2015 allegations surfaced that witnesses had been 'verballed' and had signed statements in Thai language that had not been properly translated to them - the Russian translator involved was later forced to admit that he could not read Thai and had no idea what he or the witnesses had signed.

Hanks was represented by lawyer Sanya Namnaphon of Alba Laws LLP at trial, who also recently represented Rashid Grasanov, who was also found not guilty amidst allegations of police misconduct in the case.

Lawyers for Hanks are now considering what action can be taken against the officers involved, and whether charges for misconduct can be laid.

The case has attracted significant media attention in both the Thai and foreign press, and on the internet and Hanks is now expected to file charges against all of media the outlets that misreported that Hanks was 'mafia' or 'a gangster' or involved in 'racketeering' and 'money laundering'.


Hanks said at the Court this morning:

'I am obviously delighted at the outcome of the case, and happy that I have finally been able to clear my name after two years of media harassment and personal attacks on the internet - all coordinated by a journalist already convicted of libel in a case I filed, and who is now on the run with several arrest warrants outstanding after absconding whilst on bail.

From the outset I have maintained my innocence and repeatedly stated I had nothing to do with this - I even provided prosecutors and police with statements from witnesses that witnesses were forced to sign statements in Thai language and had no idea what they had signed, and will now certainly pursue that matter.

The icing on the cake was when the 'translator' admitted he had no idea what the statements said.

My family and I have been subjected to a disgraceful media campaign and called 'mafia' and a 'gangster', and  it is time for that hate campaign of harassment to be addressed in the Courts,

I cannot thank my lawyer Sanya Namnaphon enough for his diligence in pursuing this case, and for his tireless efforts to have this case brought to this conclusion today'.

Jomtien real estate agent Andy Mathews ordered to surrender to Pattaya Court for threatening to kill former business partner.

Pattaya, August 1st 2015 

Andy Mathews - threatened to kill his ex employer

Pattaya Provincial Court has ordered a Jomtien real estate agent to surrender to the Court to answer charges of threatening to kill his former business partner.

In a case brought by Rolf Haupt, a real estate investor based in Hong Kong, the Court ordered Andrew 'Andy' Mathews to be arrested and brought before the Court to answer allegations that Mathews has issued various death threats against Haupt after Haupt filed several defamation cases against Mathews.

Mathews was ordered to appear on September 15th or an arrest warrant will be issued.

Mathews was previously arrested in October 2014 in a case brought by Haupt's company and a further case filed by a female employee of the company and spent three weeks in custody earlier this year after breaching his bail conditions twice.

It is alleged Mathews has sent hundreds of written threats and defamatory statements by email and SMS message to a number of other people.

At least ten reports have been made to Pattaya Police, and a recent SMS message is alleged to have said that any witness that attends Court will be stabbed to death.

At four recent preliminary hearings, the Court heard witness evidence and was satisfied a prima facie case exists for Mathews to face multiple criminal trials.

It is alleged in Court documents that Mathews has for at least a year been threatening a number of individuals, as well as sending hundreds of harassing emails.

Mathews is now expected to face an extremely tough bail hearing  as he has already been convicted three times in recent years in Thailand for violent offences, most recently for assault and aggravated criminal trespass, and has at least two current pending suspended terms of imprisonment totalling 26 months jail in total.

Lawyers are now expected to vigorously oppose bail in all cases against Mathews, citing a number of written threats made by Mathews not only to Haupt, but also allegedly to witnesses in the case.

Mathews joins his previous ally Andrew Drummond, the fugitive journalist, who also has several outstanding arrest warrants issued by Pattaya Court.

Andrew Drummond - Mathews previous ally, but now on the run after absconding whilst on bail.