Abhisit, Suthep to be charged with murder

DSI chief says top Democrats are ultimately responsible for taxi driver's death at hands of soldiers in 2010

Abhisit Vejjajiva and his former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban face murder charges over the death of a taxi driver during the red-shirt protest in May 2010, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) said yesterday.

The department will summon the two, who now are MPs of the opposition Democrat Party, to acknowledge the charges next Wednesday before they obtain immunity during the session of Parliament due to begin on December 21, DSI chief Tarit Pengdith said.

A tripartite meeting of the DSI, police and the public prosecutor decided that Abhisit, as the holder of top responsibility in his capacity as prime minister at the time, and Suthep, as director of the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), would be charged in accordance with Articles 59, 83, 84 and 288 of the Penal Code, Tarit said.

The decision was based on a recent court judgement that taxi driver Phan Kamkong was shot dead by military personnel during the operation against the protest, he said.

Evidence uncovered during the investigation into the death indicated that during the operation, Abhisit and Suthep ordered the military to use lethal weapons as well as snipers against the protesters, Tarit said.

Suthep gave such orders in writing and claimed he had been instructed to do so by Abhisit, said Tarit, who heads the team investigating the deaths of 91 people during the protest.

"Abhisit as the prime minister knew about the operation, as he stayed in the CRES office all the time," the DSI chief said. "The instructions were issued many times. The order was never stopped although they knew some people had died during the operation.

"Many pieces of evidence indicated that the two responsible persons made the order with the intention of seeing massive fatalities," he said.

Abhisit and Suthep claimed earlier that they had no choice but to take tough action to maintain law and order in the capital. Tarit said such a claim was not rational as they could have used other methods to handle the situation.

"The action was misconduct, as both of them should know very well that using live bullets and snipers could cause the death of protesters."

Asked whether Tarit himself was at the time a member of the CRES, he said he never agreed with the tough action and did not suggest to Abhisit and Suthep that they use weapons against the people.

Democrat Party spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut said the DSI charge against Abhisit and Suthep was motivated by politics. The department is abusing its power for political purposes in favour of the government and the red shirts, he said.

The DSI could not say clearly which soldier fired the rifle that killed Phan, he said. "No piece of paper in the CRES [files] ordered any soldier to kill any protesters."

Neither Abhisit, who is now the Democrat leader, nor Suthep, former secretary-general of the party, will run away from justice and they are ready to prove themselves in court, Chavanond said.

Tarit denied that he had handled the case in accordance with political pressure from the government or the red shirts, pointing out that many red-shirt leaders, even those who are members of the Cabinet or MPs, have also been prosecuted.

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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2012/12/07/abhisit-suthep-to-be-charged-with-murder/