Two Thai soldiers face rare murder charges in restive south

 

File photo//REUTERS

 

BANGKOK (Reuters) - Two soldiers in Thailand's south have been charged with the murder of civilians, a military spokesman said on Wednesday, in a rare rebuke in the insurgency-torn region where rights groups have long demanded greater transparency.

 

The two turned themselves in on Dec. 20 and are now out on bail, Internal Security Operations Command spokesman Pramote Prom-in said. He gave no details about the victims.

 

"There will be an investigation and we will follow the legal procedures," he said.

 

The charges come months after a nationwide furor over the death in a separate case of Abdulloh Esormusor, a suspected insurgent who fell into a coma after interrogation at an army camp. The Thai military rejected allegations of torture and urged the public to wait for the result of an official inquiry.

 

A decade-old separatist insurgency in predominantly Buddhist Thailand's largely ethnic Malay-Muslim southern provinces has killed nearly 7,000 people since 2004, says Deep South Watch, a group that monitors the violence.

 

(Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng; Editing by Edmund Klamann)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2019-12-26

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Decade? Try at least 2...

5 hours ago, webfact said:

The charges come months after a nationwide furor over the death in a separate case of Abdulloh Esormusor, a suspected insurgent who fell into a coma after interrogation at an army camp. The Thai military rejected allegations of torture and urged the public to wait for the result of an official inquiry.

But they're out on bail..... ?

6 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

But they're out on bail..... ?

well... to be fair - they should be given every opportunity, to leave no witness 

19 minutes ago, hotchilli said:

But they're out on bail..... ?

Yeah I agree tell me how the bloody hell u can get out on bail if u charged with murder 

41 minutes ago, ubon farang said:

Yeah I agree tell me how the bloody hell u can get out on bail if u charged with murder 

Probably told to "disappear" over a border to avoid loss of face by senior officers and the publicity surrounding a trial!

2 hours ago, Burma Bill said:

Probably told to "disappear" over a border to avoid loss of face by senior officers and the publicity surrounding a trial!

Yeah anything can happen here. Would not surprise me.

Killed 7000p people. Wonder how many are innocent civilians? 

7 hours ago, ubon farang said:

Yeah I agree tell me how the bloody hell u can get out on bail if u charged with murder 

Obviously u can here 5555

So two soldiers kill a guy during interrogation at an Army base so most likely on duty and under orders to interrogate the prisoner (they will have been trained for this). So who gave the order? I would surmise this instruction/directive would come from the top passed down the line. Very much a Jack Nicholson moment. 

2 minutes ago, Scot123 said:

So two soldiers kill a guy during interrogation at an Army base so most likely on duty and under orders to interrogate the prisoner (they will have been trained for this). So who gave the order? I would surmise this instruction/directive would come from the top passed down the line. Very much a Jack Nicholson moment. 

The article states that the death during interrogation is a "separate case". No details are given about the alleged murder by these 2 soldiers.

 

13 hours ago, webfact said:

The charges come months after a nationwide furor over the death in a separate case of Abdulloh Esormusor

 

On 12/26/2019 at 10:13 AM, ubon farang said:

Yeah I agree tell me how the bloody hell u can get out on bail if u charged with murder 

Anything is possible here