Three years after crackdown, reds and Army demand clarity, justice
Yesterday marked the third anniversary of the April 10 crackdown on protesters during 2010's political turmoil. Both the red-shirt movement and the Army renewed their calls for clarity and justice in dealing with the aftermath of the protests, while the blame game intensified again.
The Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD) rallied at Democracy Monument yesterday to commemorate the incident.
Around the rally stage, shops sold red-shirt merchandise including T-shirts, stickers and souvenirs, while tents were set up to exhibit images of the crackdown and the damage incurred during the 2010 political unrest.
Police were on hand to provide security and control traffic in the area, while medical personnel manned a station nearby. Mobile toilets were made available for the crowds attending the event.
Red shirts also gathered at Democracy Monument, despite the punishing temperatures.
Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said the red-shirt group, like the Army, had the right to commemorate those who had lost their lives as a result of the political unrest.
He said that after having received letters of complaint from families of soldiers killed in the political |turmoil, he would now assign |Army legal advisers to ask the Department of Special Investigation to speed up its investigation.
"I feel that there has not been much progress. We need to know" who killed these soldiers, he said.
The Department of Special Investigation would respond to such a request, confirmed DSI director general Tarit Pengdith said yesterday.
"If asked by the Army, the DSI will explain it has been consistently working to solve the cases of the killings of soldiers," he said.
Tarit was responding to news reports that the Army as well as a Senate-appointed panel had been critical of what they called slow progress in unmasking the culprits behind attacks on security forces during the political unrest.
Singling out the killing of Army officer Romklao Thuwatham, Tarit said he was willing to pursue any leads based on evidence supplied by parties concerned.
He said that public prosecutors had asked the DSI to come up with incriminating evidence in the Romklao case, rather than just circumstantial evidence.
Thus far the DSI had collected images of the armed men who ambushed and killed Romklao but it had been unable to identify them, he said.
Supporters of the two opposing sides intensified their war of words via social media on the eve of yesterday's events. Others posted messages calling for an end to such divisiveness.
@Bangkok_2474 wrote: One side believes wholeheartedly that there were no "Men in Black", the other side believes wholeheartedly that the military is totally innocent.
@Ananlada wrote: Commemorating only one side of the truth is useless. Society does not learn, rifts remain, loss can happen again.
In a separate move, more than 1,000 red shirts from the provinces yesterday rallied outside the Council of State, calling on the agency to provide speedy legal advice to the government on proposed amnesty bills so as to aid the release of those imprisoned on charges relating to political unrest.
Travelling from Chiang Mai, Maha Sarakham, Ubon Ratcha-thani and Khon Kaen, the red shirts made a statement on behalf of the January 29 Front, saying the amnesty bill's passage was urgent so the country could move forward. They also cited the deaths of two red-shirt prisoners who had earlier been denied bail.
The group asked the Council of State and other state agencies to do their part to help speed up the legislation process.
Rally leader Suda Rangkupan said that some 1,857 prisoners were facing charges related to political unrest and hundreds were currently detained.
She said that if justice were delayed, those in detention were at risk of dying in prison. "Amnesty bills would provide much-needed justice and enable the country to achieve reconciliation,'' she said.
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Article source: http://www.thethailandlinks.com/2013/04/16/tensions-stirred-on-anniversary/
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