Democrat Party supporters appear in a show of moral support for Abhisit and Suthep at the party
Democrat leaders charged with murder by DSI
Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban were allowed to go home after acknowledging murder charges at the Department of Special Investigation yesterda.There were no clashes between their supporters and the red shirts.
Besides the murder charge involving the fatal shooting of a taxi driver during the red-shirt protest in May 2010, the DSI later informed them of charges of violating the Political Party Act in regard to flood donations during the term of the Democrat-led government.
If convicted, the person could be banned from politics for five years besides facing imprisonment, said Tarit Pengdith, director-general of the DSI.
A picture of Abhisit providing his fingerprints, dubbed "a historic picture", spread on the Internet yesterday evening. That prompted him to call Tarit and blame him for leaking the photo as a violation of his rights. Tarit then ordered an investigation into the matter.
The Democrats had also copied the DSI's investigation report and how the agency had appointed its investigators. They questioned why the DSI only filed murder charges against the two but not charges of dereliction of duty.
When Abhisit and Suthep arrived at DSI headquarters in the afternoon, along with the party's legal team and some Democrat MPs such as Chuan Leekpai, Thaworn Senneam, Siriwan Prasajaksatru and Sirichok Sopha, Tarit was waiting to receive them.
About 400 police were also standing guard as a group of red shirts led by Phayao Akkahad, who lost her daughter Kamolkade during the political turmoil, booed at the Democrats. Phayao's daughter had been working as a volunteer nurse at Pathum Wannaram Temple.
Some protesters gathered on a pickup truck with a loudspeaker and showed pictures of their loved ones lost in the 2010 violence.
At Democrat Party headquarters, people started gathering early in the morning to offer moral support to Abhisit and Suthep. They held up a poster with the words "Fight Abhisit" and "DSI ordered to accuse Abhisit and Suthep".
Abhisit and Suthep left the DSI after 5.30pm, while the red shirts dispersed at about 4.30pm.
Tarit said the DSI could hold suspects for up to 48 hours, but there was no reason to detain Abhisit and Suthep. It was not a case of double standards, as the red shirts who properly turned themselves in to hear charges and displayed no behaviour arousing suspicions that they would try to flee were not held in custody either, he said.
The DSI said Abhisit as prime minister and Suthep as director of the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation must be held responsible for the death of Phan Khamkong, the taxi driver, who a court said was killed by security troops. The sharpshooter was not identified. However, the DSI will also wait for the court's documents before filing more charges related to another red shirt, Charnnarong Polsrila, whose death the court said was also the result of military officers' conduct, Tarit said.
The DSI had originally summoned Abhisit and Suthep for next Tuesday to hear the charges for the donation cases, but the Democrats said they were ready to hear the charges yesterday, he said.
Suthep's case involved East Water's donation to the government's flood-relief project via a bank account belonging to the Democrats, while Abhisit's case was related to funds donated to the Democrat Party but through a different process than required by law.
For Suthep's case, DSI investigators had consulted with lawyers and agreed that a charge could be laid against the Democrat Party, as it could benefit politically by claiming credit for the project.
For Abhisit's case, a series of donations, each more than Bt20,000, was made via transfers from one bank account to another, which was against the law requiring payment by cheque.
Tarit said the two cases were minor, but they were criminal cases and the person convicted could be barred from politics for five years.
"A few years of imprisonment can be [used as] a political attack. Abhisit's imprisonment will be three years [if convicted]. Thaksin [Shinawatra]'s imprisonment is two years. They are the same," Tarit said.
Abhisit told his supporters that he had no intention to hurt the people who staged the demonstrations against his government from 2009-10. It was the duty of him as prime minister and Suthep to maintain law and order since the red-shirt protesters were equipped with military-grade weapons and broke the law.
"We have a clear policy not to subject the lives of people to risk," he told the sympathetic gathering at Democrat Party headquarters.
Those who monitored the political situation and political history closely should know very well that his government exercised utmost restraint and handled the situation with respect for human rights, Abhisit said. This current government has the clear objective to subject him and Suthep to punishment, he said.
"Khun Suthep and I will fight under the legal framework. We do respect the Thai justice system. We won't run away. We aren't cowards and corrupt. We won't take refuge in foreign countries. We won't bargain for our own sake," he said.
"The maximum punishment for this murder charge is execution. If the court hands down such a sentence, we'll accept it to show respect for the justice system. If I have to go to death row, the fugitive who is on the run from a two-year jail term should return home to serve it out," Abhisit said, referring to his political rival Thaksin, who was convicted for abuse of power as prime minister.
Latest stories in this category
- Abhisit, Suthep not detained
- Democrat leaders charged with murder by DSI
- Yingluck has nothing to lose with charter poll
- Thawil: drop DSI action against ex-leaders
We Recommend
- Opposition cries foul over ex-PM on state TV
- Group to seek probe by Ombudsman, anti-graft..
- NBTC probing live TV broadcast by Thaksin
- Richest stockholders linked to govt, PM
Comments conditions
Users are solely responsible for their comments.We reserve the right to remove any comment and revoke posting rights for any reason withou prior notice.
Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/12/14/abhisit-suthep-not-detained/
0 comments:
Post a Comment