Monitoring ankle bracelets will be used with suspects, defendants on March 1

BANGKOK, Feb 28 (TNA) -- The Court of Justice will start to use electronic monitoring (EM) devices with suspects and defendants instead of bails on March 1. Saravoot Benjakul, secretary-general of the Office of the Court of Justice, said EM devices would reduce social inequality and congestion in prisons. Judges would decide whether to use EM devices with any suspects or defendants who could not afford bail and whose offences were not serious, he said. According to Mr Saravoot, on March 1, 5,000 EM ankle bracelets will be introduced at 23 courts including 600 devices at the Criminal Court, 600 units at the Min Buri provincial court, 300 devices at the Bangkok South Criminal Court, 300 more at the Thonburi Criminal Court, and 50 units at the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases. “The ankle bracelets will tell court officials if suspects or defendants comply with courts’ conditions which for example prohibit them from escaping and assaulting damaged people,” Mr Saravoot said. Kampol Roongrat, chief judge at the office of the Supreme Court president, said an EM bracelet was connected to a global positioning system and weighed only 230 grams. Users will always wear the devices on their ankles. If they leave their specified areas or destroy the devices, staff at the control center of the Court of Justice would be aware of that and the users would face arrest warrants. The first 5,000 EM devices cost 80.8 million baht. The Court of Justice plans to increase them to 10,000 units next year. Their application will be evaluated yearly. (END)