Abhisit urges red shirts not to turn fatalities in 2010 crackdown into ‘political game’

By The Nation

 

Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva

 

Former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva on Tuesday hit back against the red shirts, urging them not to turn the loss of life suffered in the 2010 crackdown under his administration into a “political game”.

 

Relatives of some of those killed in the crackdown against red-shirt protesters yesterday submitted a complaint letter to the Office of the Attorney-General, urging the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to reinvestigate the case of malfeasance against Abhisit and his then-deputy Suthep Thaugsuban in connection with the incident. 

 

The Supreme Court had last month dismissed the case against the two.

 

Abhisit said that while he felt sympathetic towards relatives of the victims who wanted to know the truth in order to see justice, he noted that they had not opposed the controversial blanket amnesty bill when it was tabled by then-Pheu Thai MPs and supported by the Yingluck Shinawatra-led government, even although the proposed measure would have granted amnesty for those who were involved in the crackdown. 

 

“So, it’s strange that they did not oppose [the bill] at that time, but now they make the move [asking for a reopening of the case]. They have no [justifiable] stance. I know there is an attempt to turn the matter into a political issue,” he explained.

 

He added that if then-PM Yingluck had not made the issue part of a political game or had not wanted him and Suthep to be punished from the outset, and had instead investigated under normal procedure, justice could have been achieved for all those concerned. 

 

Abhisit said he also believed that in the future, there would be an attempt to use this issue as a hostage to pave the way for an amnesty for those involved in the 2010 violence.

 

However, he stressed that it was up to the NACC to consider whether to reopen the case against him and Suthep, in accordance with the law.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30327123

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-9-19

And he went to a good school which suggests he was asleep during the lessons or became contaminated.

90+ people killed and the whole affair brushed aside....and he says  this?

He of course has been cleared of any wrong doing, but there should be justice at least!

Sees himself as a future puppet pm.

 

4 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

not to turn the loss of life suffered in the 2010 crackdown under his administration into a “political game”

Abhisit was found not guilty by the Court for Political Office Holders as a matter of politics where he faced only a ban from public office for five years if guilty!

If he doesn't want a political game to affect accountability, then he should demand that DSI who originally referred the murder complaint against Abhisit to the Criminal Court once again be referred to the Criminal Court for prosecution.

But Abhisit won't because he prefers the politicalization of the judicial system.

People seem to forget Murder is not a crime in Thailand  These people were poor so it dont matter if they are shot. But it would of made a big difference if the Red Bull guy was amongst the protesters and got killed This guy Abhisit would of being in jail.Seeing Justice system falling apart so bad here. How can you run a country if you have no justice? Back to the old west days where the law of the gun ruled

11 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

90+ people killed and the whole affair brushed aside....and he says  this?

He of course has been cleared of any wrong doing, but there should be justice at least!

And of course it was totally fine those protestors came to put Bangkok on fire and drive over pedestrians, occupied many mainstreets while shooting fireworks at the army. putting large piles of cartyres on fire among buildings, shooting rocketgrenades on government buildings and so on. And the cherry on the cake to put Central World Mall on fire (after looting it of course).

 

Any other president would have removed those protestors within 3 days already, why did he wait so long?

Abhisit claims it is strange that they did not oppose the amnesty bill?

 

I thought that one of the main planks of the arguement against the amnesty bill was that many redshirts were amongst those who opposed the amnesty bill, for just that reason; or so we have been persistantly told on here!

Oh dear, if Abhisit is right that is inconvenient...

Edited September 19, 20178 yr by JAG

He and the mad monk gave the order to shoot? 

He came to power through a political game at the end of 2008. 

2 hours ago, JAG said:

Abhisit claims it is strange that they did not oppose the amnesty bill?

 

I thought that one of the main planks of the arguement against the amnesty bill was that many redshirts were amongst those who opposed the amnesty bill, for just that reason; or so we have been persistantly told on here!

Oh dear, if Abhisit is right that is inconvenient...

Yes there were some red shirts against the amnesty.. not their leaders though.. they were loyal to the shins (money talks). And now their leaders.. not the ordinary guy make a scene... so Abisith is right in his assessment. YL and the PTP did not give a rats ass about the deaths.. they used them as a bargaining chip to get Thaksin home. That is the truth of it but the Abisith did not give in to the blackmail. 

26 minutes ago, robblok said:

Yes there were some red shirts against the amnesty.. not their leaders though.. they were loyal to the shins (money talks). And now their leaders.. not the ordinary guy make a scene... so Abisith is right in his assessment. YL and the PTP did not give a rats ass about the deaths.. they used them as a bargaining chip to get Thaksin home. That is the truth of it but the Abisith did not give in to the blackmail. 

If you read the OP carefully you will see that Abhisit is referring to the relatives of those killed - not the leaders of the redshirts. You might also realise that is the relatives of those killed, not any leaders of the PTP, but the relatives of those killed who are "making a scene". 

 

How dare they, I mean "make a scene" about the slaughter of their relatives...

1 minute ago, JAG said:

If you read the OP carefully you will see that Abhisit is referring to the relatives of those killed - not the leaders of the redshirts. You might also realise that is the relatives of those killed, not any leaders of the PTP, but the relatives of those killed who are "making a scene". 

 

How dare they, I mean "make a scene" about the slaughter of their relatives...

The relatives have every right, and I can understand them. But if you followed the news it was not just the family members but the red shirt leaders doing the same thing.

3 minutes ago, robblok said:

The relatives have every right, and I can understand them. But if you followed the news it was not just the family members but the red shirt leaders doing the same thing.

I was commenting on the OP and what Abhisit said about the relatives of those killed.

 

"Following the news" sounds very much like a euphemism for taking the thread off down another route, one allowing opportunities to turn it into a "Yingluck bash". I do understand that you would be far more comfortable traveling that route , but that is not what the original post or my comments are about.

1 hour ago, Chris Lawrence said:

He and the mad monk gave the order to shoot? 

No monk was involved.

Abhisit's Deputy PM Suthep directed the military as Chief of the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation to shoot into the protester area, specifically below their knees without intent to kill.

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, JAG said:

I was commenting on the OP and what Abhisit said about the relatives of those killed.

 

"Following the news" sounds very much like a euphemism for taking the thread off down another route, one allowing opportunities to turn it into a "Yingluck bash". I do understand that you would be far more comfortable traveling that route , but that is not what the original post or my comments are about.

No JAG following the news you would have known the scene the red shirt leaders not the family members are trying to make over this while when the amnesty included Abisith to benefit Thaksin they kept silent... so they are hypocrites. 

 

The family has every right I agree.. i would try to go for justice too if i had lost a family member. Though IMHO they should not only think about Abisith.. but also about the guy who let armed elements in the red shirt camp and made a hate speech before. The reds were incited to violence by their leader.. and they blame Abisith when it turned violent... even though they had terrorists in their midst. One might say there are quite a few more parties here to blame. 

10 minutes ago, robblok said:

No JAG following the news you would have known the scene the red shirt leaders not the family members are trying to make over this while when the amnesty included Abisith to benefit Thaksin they kept silent... so they are hypocrites. 

 

Don't think you correct on that. The red shirts were at an uproar on the amnesty bill. Even people like Prasong Mongkonsiri, a left leaning red shirt leader and ex-editor of the 'Voice of Thaksin' unloaded profanities at the PT lawmakers calling them traitors and whores. 4 red shirt MPs including Nattawut and Thitinan abstained from the amnesty vote. No holding back Thitinan who said that was the turning point for the red shirts and an apparent chasm because of the bill. No they didn't kept silence.  

16 hours ago, ChrisY1 said:

90+ people killed and the whole affair brushed aside....and he says  this?

He of course has been cleared of any wrong doing, but there should be justice at least!

 

There was justice.

 

When the roads were cleared, when the violent protesters were removed - that was justice being done.

 

You can't hold a city hostage and then fight the armed forces when they reclaim the streets. Not if you want to stay whole.

 

90 people - collateral damage, human shields for Thaksin and his cronies. Anyone that didn't clear out and ended up injured was responsible for their own injuries.

4 hours ago, Srikcir said:

No monk was involved.

Abhisit's Deputy PM Suthep directed the military as Chief of the Center for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation to shoot into the protester area, specifically below their knees without intent to kill.

 

 

 

In July 2014 he was ordained to the Buddhist monkhood in Wat Tha Sai.

 

Need to be slicker than that Srik!

46 minutes ago, Chris Lawrence said:

In July 2014 he was ordained to the Buddhist monkhood in Wat Tha Sai.

 

Need to be slicker than that Srik!

Sorry, thought we were talking about a 2010 time frame which was the topic period.

Somebody had to put a stop to the looting, arson, occupation of roads & public property.

It was out of hand & was heading for complete anarchy.

If the police had acted when they should have & for example stopped them in the early stages 

from putting up tents in the middle of the road at Ratchaprasong it may never have escalated to 

the extent it did.

Feel sorry for the people killed but they did not have to be in a zone where they knew that sooner or later

it was inevitable that violence would erupt