9 students convicted of Bangkok car bomb plot

[snoop1130]

9 students convicted of Bangkok car bomb plot

By Teeranai Charuvastra, Staff Reporter

 

K-9 units are deployed at Suvarnabhumi Airport in May 2017.

 

BANGKOK — The Criminal Court on Tuesday found nine young men guilty of conspiring to stage car bomb attacks in the capital two years ago.

 

All university students from the Muslim-majority south, they were given jail terms ranging from four to six years. Five suspects were acquitted. Their lawyer disputed the ruling, saying his clients were tortured into making false statements during military detention.

 

Full Story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/2018/09/25/9-students-convicted-of-bangkok-car-bomb-plot/

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2018-9-25

[mark131v]

'All university students from the Muslim-majority south, they were given jail terms ranging from four to six years. Five suspects were acquitted. Their lawyer disputed the ruling, saying his clients were tortured into making false statements during military detention'

 

That is the knock on effect when you have a bumbling incompetent and seemingly corrupt military, judiciary and police force, turns out no matter whether they are right or wrong only a complete halfwit would blindly trust their word so no matter what they say or do you cannot believe anything they say, quite a conundrum really.....

[NCC1701A]

5 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

from four to six years

should be 20 years to life.

[moe666]

14 minutes ago, NCC1701A said:

should be 20 years to life.

Only if they were actually guilty. Maybe all they did was hit share on facebook like the guy in Khoen Khean

[webfact]

Court convicts nine in ‘budu not bomb’ case

By Chularat Saengpassa 
The Nation

 

 

Court rejects claims of confessions extracted by torture in military custody

 

THE CRIMINAL Court yesterday convicted nine defendants for their role in a separatist movement and for plotting to stage car-bomb attacks in Greater Bangkok two years ago, despite their relatives tearfully insisting on their innocence. 

 

Five other defendants in the case were acquitted due to weak evidence. 

 

“I am very upset,” Mohsu Kadenghayee, 45, said after hearing the verdict. 

 

Her son Usman was among the eight defendants sentenced to four years in jail for being part of a secret society and illegal association. The sentence was reduced from six years on grounds that the defendants had provided useful information. 

 

Only one defendant, Mubaree Kana, was convicted of all three charges – being part of a secret society, illegal association and unauthorised possession of explosives. He was given six years in jail, reduced from nine years. 

 

“Usman came to Bangkok just a few days before his arrest. He simply wanted a job,” protested Mohsu. “He was unarmed. How could he be a member of a secret society or illegal association?”

 

Mohsu

 

Usman, who is now 26, was arrested at a rented room in Bangkok’s Ramkhamhaeng area in October 2016 along with four other defendants. They were initially accused of using kratom (Mitragyna speciosa), a type of traditional narcotic. 

 

Around the same time, several men from the deep South were also arrested, apparently in response to an intelligence report that suggested insurgents would stage car-bomb attacks in Bangkok or its adjacent provinces to promote their separatist ideology. 

 

While most suspects were released soon, 13 including Usman were kept in police custody. Police also had an arrest warrant issued for suspect Tuan Hafit, who had rented the room where Usman was arrested. 

 

Some of the defendants were then taken to military camps, where they confessed to the charges. 

 

Citing the lack of evidence of physical assault, the court dismissed defendants’ claims that they had been tortured into confessing. 

 

“How can a defendant produce evidence of torture carried out inside a military camp?” Kijja Alee-ishoh, Muslim Attorney Centre’s lawyer, lamented. 

 

He said most defendants said they had been intimidated and hit in the ear. He also noted that when a complaint was lodged with the National Human Rights Commission, the agency took a while before contacting the defendants to verify their claims. 

 

 

The sentences were assigned partly on the fact that Mubaree’s hands had traces of explosive, while the remaining eight had collaborated in the investigation. 

 

Even though there were no direct witnesses to substantiate the charges, the court said it had adequate evidence to convict nine of the 14 defendants, because they were members of secret societies, which by their very nature operated in the dark. 

 

Chalita Bundhuwong, a lecturer at Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Political Science, said she had closely followed this case and genuinely expected an acquittal for all defendants. 

 

“The court formed its verdict based mainly on confessions made inside a military camp,” she complained. “How do you know what happened to defendants there?”

 

Human-rights activities have long dubbed this the “budu not bomb case”, because police only found budu sauce when raiding the defendants’ room. Budu sauce is widely consumed in the South. 

 

Kijja said his team would appeal the verdict within 30 days, while Cross Cultural Foundation’s director Pornpen Khongkachonkiet said she hoped the convicts will be granted bail. 

 

The five acquitted defendants were allowed to leave the Bangkok Remand Prison yesterday evening. 

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/national/30355203

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2018-09-26

[The Deerhunter]

14 hours ago, mark131v said:

'All university students from the Muslim-majority south, they were given jail terms ranging from four to six years. Five suspects were acquitted. Their lawyer disputed the ruling, saying his clients were tortured into making false statements during military detention'

 

That is the knock on effect when you have a bumbling incompetent and seemingly corrupt military, judiciary and police force, turns out no matter whether they are right or wrong only a complete halfwit would blindly trust their word so no matter what they say or do you cannot believe anything they say, quite a conundrum really.....

The second worst thing about police torturing is that if they do it a few times, everyone will start saying they were tortured into false confessions and some of them might be true, (like possibly the Koh Tau murders).   And this seems to be happening a lot.  In some cases they admit guilt early in order to get the 50% sentence reduction and then get advised later that it is possible to "get you off"  and "here is what you have to do."

Edited September 26, 2018 by The Deerhunter

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The news media accounts of this case provided above have a lot of elements of the not uncommon minority group/foreigner scapegoating that occurs here.

 

Maybe one or more was actually guilty of having something to do with a bomb plot (the one supposedly found to have bomb residue). But the others probably were Muslims in the wrong place at the wrong time when police were out looking to nail someone.

 

One is convicted of three charges including possession of explosives. The other 8 are convicted of illegal association and being part of a secret society, whatever that means under Thai law, I have no idea.

 

Quote

Even though there were no direct witnesses to substantiate the charges, the court said it had adequate evidence to convict nine of the 14 defendants, because they were members of secret societies, which by their very nature operated in the dark. 

 

Huh????