In a highly shocking incident, a Thai judge Khanakorn Pianchana shot himself in the chest on Friday at a provincial court in southern Thailand. Phianchana, the chief judge at Yala Provincial Court, was seriously injured and rushed to the hospital after he shot himself with his own handgun in a courtroom.
If the reports are to be believed, a statement attributed to the judge was making rounds ahead of his ruling. It claimed that senior judges had instructed Phianchana to change his verdicts in an ongoing murder case.
The judge under pressure had allegedly acquitted five defendants of charges that could have condemned three of them to death. Khanakorn acquitted the men of the murder and firearms charges citing lack of evidence. He then produced a pistol and shot himself in the chest in what appeared to be an attempt to end his life.
A 25-page memo attributed to the judge began circulating online, accusing his superiors of trying to force him to change the verdicts. The document was reported to have been posted on Judge Khanakorn’s Facebook page, along with a short video of him making similar accusations.
The judge was rushed to hospital and underwent surgery following the incident. His injuries were not life-threatening but he is still being cared for in an intensive care unit in a hospital in Yala.
