ASC hits back at claims its case was a debacle

       The disbanded Assets Scrutiny Committee is defending its handling of the rubber sapling investigation after coming under fire from the prosecution for bungling the case.
       Former ASC member Sak Korsaengruang yesterday told a news conference there was apparently a campaign under way to discredit the ASC's work.
       The news conference was held after former ASC members met to discuss the Office of the Attorney-General's verbal onslaught after the Supreme Court's Criminal Division for Holders of Political Positions on Monday cleared all the defendants of corruption and malfeasance charges levelled against them.
       OAG spokesman Thanapit Moonlapruek accused the ASC of bungling the investigation, saying the agency had rushed its decision to send the case to court despite the public prosecution's advice that the allegations against the 44 defendants lacked supporting evidence.
       Mr Sak said the campaign seemed to begin after the ASC's ruling on the allegedly shady procurement of CTX bomb scanners for Suvarnabhumi airport.
       "The ASC did its job for the public good and faced several lawsuits in the process. Now, justice officials are rubbing it in," he said.
       "So we have to watch out for a campaign to undermine the ASC's work which seemed to have started after the ruling on the CTX case."
       The ASC, headed by Nam Yimyaem,implicated Attorney-General Chaikasem Netisiri, a former member of the Airports of Thailand board, in alleged irregularities in the procurement of the bomb detectors at Suvarnabhumi.
       Differences of opinion have since emerged, forcing the ASC to take certain cases, including the 2003 two- and threedigit lottery case, to court itself rather than go through the prosecution.
       Mr Sak said it was unfair of the OAG to criticise the ASC after the acquittal of defendants in the sapling case.
       "Has the OAG never lost a single case? And in this case a senior justice official testified as a defence witness that the case was politically motivated,"he said.
       Former ASC member Kaewsun Ati-bhodhi said the OAG's comments were inappropriate and could influence other pending corruption cases.
       However, he said the ASC respected the Supreme Court's verdict.
       Meanwhile, deputy agriculture minister Supachai Phosu said he would propose a scheme to promote the farming of 3 million rai of rubber worth 16 billion baht following the verdict.
       He said he would ask for a budget from the Thai Kem Kaeng "Thailand:Investing from Strength to Strength"project to subsidise the scheme.
       "It will be beneficial to farmers in the long run," he said."If the agriculture minister agrees to this, we can use the rubber sapling case as a lesson and make sure the project is transparent."
       In another development, the Commission of the Office of the AttorneyGeneral has named Atthapol Yaisawang,inspector to the office, as deputy attorney-general.
       Mr Thanapit, the OAG spokesman who doubles as the head of the Economic Crime Litigation Department, has been made director-general of the Special Cases Department.