Red shirt protest 2010: Abhisit and Suthep are prosecuted for murder
Former Prime Minister Abhisit and his right-hand man Suthep will be prosecuted for murder. The two are held responsible for the red shirts and civilians who were shot dead by the army in 2010 during the red shirt riots.
On Friday, the Attorney General signed the indictment. The PG follows the advice of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI, the Thai FBI), which is investigating the victims.
According to OM spokesperson Watcharin Panurat, the OM is authorized to prosecute both criminally and it is not a matter for the National Anti-Corruption Commission. It concerns extrajudicial crimes and not crimes that can be regarded as abuse of power by authorities. Furthermore, an investigation has shown that both gave orders to end the disturbances, in which the use of weapons was permitted.
The Democrats view the PG's decision as an attempt by [the government] to pressure the party to agree to the (amended) amnesty proposal of Pheu Thai MP Worachai Hema. A parliamentary committee has also decided to grant amnesty to the army, protest leaders and authorities. They didn't get that in the original proposal. The period for which amnesty applies has also been extended.
According to the Democrats, former Prime Minister Thaksin can now also benefit from the proposal. He escapes his 2-year prison sentence and can claim back the 46 billion baht seized from him. Other corruption cases from the time when Thaksin was in power, which have not yet been brought to court, would also be dropped.
Abhisit said yesterday that he is willing to fight the case in court. He calls the DSI's investigation 'defective' and 'trivial' compared to what now threatens to happen as a result of the amnesty proposal. Suthep is not worried either. At the time, Suthep was director of the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), the body responsible for enforcing the state of emergency. The CRES authorized the army to fire live ammunition when attacked.
“People only talk about soldiers firing,” said army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha, “and no one dares say what actually happened. I don't understand why they don't say that soldiers were also fired on.' Prayuth refers to the so-called 'men in black', a heavily armed militia that was among the red shirt demonstrators. He bombarded the army with bullets and grenades, which also killed and injured soldiers.
Prayuth does not think it is necessary for the army to benefit from the amnesty proposal. That is not necessary for his men either. The army was not a party to the political conflict. Soldiers are government officials who perform their duties in accordance with the law. I don't need an amnesty either. I am not a crook and can defend myself in court.'
Next month, parliament will debate the amnesty proposal in second and third reading. Both anti-government groups and red shirts have announced rallies. The red shirts say they feel betrayed by Pheu Thai because Abhisit and Suthep escape the dance. The anti-government groups are against blank amnesty because of Thaksin. In short: it promises to be another hot November, as Thailandblog yesterday already signaled.
(Source: Bangkok Post, October 29, 2013)
Photos: Then Prime Minister Abhisit (right) and Deputy Prime Minister Suthep in May 2010 on their way to a meeting of the CRES.
Submitted communication
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I have the firm impression that a power struggle is going on here on the cutting edge. Thaksin even risks a (confidence) breach in his supporters to show that there is only one man in charge in this country and that is him. He trusts that the majority will follow him (whether or not with a promised reward; he probably never thought he would ever get his billions back, so he can hand it out nicely to his followers) and that he will give the voters can spawn again at the next elections with new populist measures.
As often happens with people who stay outside their own country for a long time, he underestimates the internal situation, in my opinion. Pushing through the new version of the amnesty law (I have yet to see the King sign that law) is arrogance at its best. Many relatives have a bad taste in their mouths. A growing number of Thai people are slowly opening their eyes. They hardly benefit from the measures of this government, corruption is rampant, people absolutely do not listen to other opinions but push their own opinion 'democratically' (ministers who do not agree with the Thaksin line are demoted), it is swarming of incompetent ministers, one deals in ill-considered ideas (which then have to be watered down or withdrawn), one misinforms the population (eg about the chances of winning the court case in The Hague against Cambodia) and there is a lack of leadership. In short: it is - in my opinion - chaos.
The words of Prayuth should be taken seriously. If all those anonymous shooters (men in black) who shot at the army from the red area are amnestied, the gate will be over.
Surely no sane person falls for this? It is very coincidental from the timing of the prosecution and the amnesty proposal. It is to be hoped that both gentlemen and their supporters will indeed not be fooled and, if necessary, will come before the court. It seems strange to me anyway that a conviction will result unless real evidence is found during the investigation that the gentlemen have said “just shoot a few red shirts because I want to see blood”. I doubt that the gentlemen have ordered murder, if bizarrely enough that really is the case, then you should go to jail like any criminal. Unfortunately, that kite does not always work (where is that nice young man who killed a cop with his drunken head in his Porche, by the way?).
Hopefully Thaksin will overplay his hand and lose the support of the red shirts. And if it does come to that amnesty law, then it is indeed hoped, as Chris writes, that the king will not sign this reprehensible proposal out of the interest of the people and justice.
In the long term, but then you will be decades further if it ever comes to that, it would be nice if a real democracy with coalition majorities came along. But that doesn't even work in the US, you also get those weird black and white governments that roll over the other party (s) or things get stuck. Party interests and personal interests over national interests (what do the majority of the people really want and what is good for most residents in the long term?).
The fuse is now really in the powder keg (and the fire is not far away), hopefully it will not come to an explosive and potentially deadly end!
@ Rob V It was a Ferrari, but this aside. The Porsche belonged to sports shooter Jakkrit who was murdered. At the time, I believe Abhisit and Suthep gave the army permission to use live ammunition when attacked. As Chris de Boer has argued before in a response, the only question that is relevant is: Did they act carefully? And: was the violence proportionate? In every country, the government has a monopoly on violence. By the way, read the column by Atiya Achakulwisut in the Bangkok Post today about the question why ruling party Pheu Thai and Thaksin are now pushing through the amnesty proposal. Tomorrow in News from Thailand.
Thanks for your explanation Dick. I'll be looking forward to tomorrow's news. It seems obvious to me that the government has a monopoly on violence and that there is therefore no question of murder if, with proportionate action, there are still victims, which seems to me to be more likely that an individual law enforcement officer (police officer, soldier, ...) goes wrong by either gross negligence (stupid, irresponsible behaviour) or even murder, in addition to the prime minister personally ordering fatalities if possible at his personal insistence. A little judge sees through that and according to the reports, the order enforcement was gradually increased at the time, so there does not seem to be any talk of disproportionate crushing of anti-government demonstrators. So a lawsuit like that should be okay?
Or does all this serve as a (stupid) lightning rod for other things such as trying to get through that strange constitutional amendment (which also does not seem to be in the national interest and certainly does not benefit sitting senators). Or am I thinking too far and is it simply “Thaksin must be amnestied at all costs” that can of course also be the case.
It was indeed not a Porsche but a Ferrari.
However, the car was driven by the heir to the Red Bull empire.
This guy has failed to show up in court more than 10 times as'
he must avoid. He's too busy. Then there will be a new date
pricked. The so-called sentencing in absentia is omitted here every time.
The above story of Dick is really disgusting.
Thailand threatens to become a big corrupt gang or maybe this is already a fact.
Thaksin would not benefit but will soon escape his punishment and get his stolen money back.
I really don't understand all those voters (Isaan and Northern Thailand) who are on and on
who vote red shirts or Thaksin. Maybe because they think their children
get a free tablet at school. Or because they get 500 baht if they demonstrate
and a free meal.
It is truly unbelievable how fast Thailand is running backwards and believing in their own lies. Corruption is so deep-rooted and widely accepted that it is hard to imagine a good outcome.