June 19, 2013

Red Bull scion stirs debate on justice in Thailand

BY: AP Staff Writer SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 | MODIFIED: SEPTEMBER 4, 2012 AT 10:17 AM
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Photo -   In this photo taken Sept. 3, 2012, Thai police officers look at a motorcycle and a Ferrari car that involved in a hit-and-run accident during the investigation at Thong Lor police station in Bangkok, Thailand. A grandson of the creator of the Red Bull energy drink has been arrested for driving the Ferrari that struck a police officer and dragged his dead body down a Bangkok street in an early-morning hit-and-run, police said Monday. (AP Photo)
In this photo taken Sept. 3, 2012, Thai police officers look at a motorcycle and a Ferrari car that involved in a hit-and-run accident during the investigation at Thong Lor police station in Bangkok, Thailand. A grandson of the creator of the Red Bull energy drink has been arrested for driving the Ferrari that struck a police officer and dragged his dead body down a Bangkok street in an early-morning hit-and-run, police said Monday. (AP Photo)

BANGKOK (AP) — People in Thailand often joke that prisons are reserved for the poor, because the rich and privileged tend to get away with murder.

Popular online forums are filled with commentary Tuesday about the justice system's highest-profile test case in years, in which an heir to the Red Bull energy drink fortune allegedly slammed his Ferrari into a policeman and dragged the officer's dead body along a street before speeding away.

Police initially attempted to cover up the heir's involvement by arresting a bogus suspect, underlining what many people describe as selective law enforcement and the power of political connections.

But Bangkok's police commissioner has now taken charge of the investigation and is vowing to deliver justice in Monday's accident. "The truth will prevail," he says.

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