The Criminal Court in Bangkok today, Monday 29 November, scheduled the hearing of the drug case against Kim Roger Eriksson to be in another six month. The days set aside for the trial are 14 – 17 June 2011. In today’s meeting, the list of witnesses were handed over to the judge – six witnesses for the prosecution and six witnesses for the defense.
The key witness for Kim Roger Eriksson’s defense team is the Swedish man, Thomas Ilius, who according to Kim’s testimony was teaching him how to produce the drugs. Kim has from the very beginning explained how this man left his house only 10 minutes before the Thai police and the American DEA raided the laboratory and claimed that he must have been working closely with the American DEA all along for two years before the arrest took place.
“We don’t think he will come, but we call him as a witness and we will have other witnesses testifying to his existence in order to prove that it was Thomas Ilius who was teaching me how to produce the substance – I was not producing the drug in order to sell it,” Kim Roger Eriksson explained to ScandAsia while the lawyers and the court officials were busy with the paperwork.
Kim was led into the court room barefoot with chains on his feet. He was handcuffed on his right side to another prisoner, a young Iranian man who was caught with 124 grams of heroin in capsules in his stomach.
The Iranian man’s case was dealt with first. He had no lawyer so one was quickly produced. The interpreter tried to communicate with him in English but he did not understand much. Eventually he confirmed that he pleaded guilty, “No, not fight.” He was told that he would not get his sentence until another court meeting, but he didn’t get it until Kim pulled him down on the bench and told him in simple terms to “sit, wait, next time!”
Kim and the Iranian were both dresses in prison clothes, a pinkish shirt and brownish, long shorts. Kim had the number 9041 printed on the back of his shirt. Below his knees he wore what looked like a sweat band with an image of a dragon to ease the feeling of the cold metal ring and chain. His head was shaved down to 1 cm short hair and he had a short, one week old beard.
Kim was in good spirit while telling about his case which he felt was going well. Apart from calling the mercurial Thomas Ilius as their witness, his defense law team would produce the Thai man who sold him the lab equipment and the other man, who sold him the chemicals, his wife, who is currently staying in Sweden with her six month old daughter, their former maid and one more witness apart from Kim himself.
The strategy is to blow the case up as big as possible in order to get court assistance in finding the key witness Thomas Ilius and forcing him to appear in court.
“My mother has talked to him. He told her that he is on the run in Sweden and is sleeping in a different places every night. A friend of mine has also talked to him,” Kim says.
Kim’s legal team consists of a Swedish business lawyer and a Thai law which has put four lawyers on his case. The case is actually two cases. One is the case about the drug charges against him. The other is about regaining control over the assets worth a total of 40 million Baht that were seized during his arrest. The assets include one apartment, one house, land and a speedboat all registered in his wife’s name and invested in on behalf of investors whom he said he had a complete record of. So he expected to get these assets back regardless of how the outcome of the drug case was.
On Facebook a group is raising money to help him with his expenses, he said.
Life in the prison is strained by the fact that it is overcrowded so the situation is tense and there is a lot of agression. .
“When confronted by other prisoners, I have to stand up for myself otherwise i loose respect, but I also cannot be too aggressive. It is a balance,” Kim explains.
“The seriousness of my case helps me as it gives some extra status,” he adds.
The public prosecutor explained to ScandAsia, that they had raised the case under the Narcotics Law of 1979 and hoped to prove that Kim Roger Eriksson not only possessed drugs but also produced it with the intent to sell.
“If we win the case, there is only one sentence possible – that is the death sentence,” she said.
Previous news in this case:
Swedish Drug Trial Starts Today
Swede Arrested in Rayong for Drug Producing
Suspected Swedish Drug Manufacturer Detained in Bangkok
Kim Roger Eriksson’s Former Boss Shocked at Arrest
First Hand Report of Kim Roger Eriksson’s Interrogation
Swedish Kim Faces the Death Penalty in Thailand
