Thailand Drops Case Against Five Men With N Korean Weapons

[george]

Thailand drops case against five men with NKorean weapons

BANGKOK: (AFP) -- Thailand said Thursday it had decided to drop a case against the five member crew of a plane carrying sanctions-busting weapons from North Korea.

"The trial here will not benefit Thailand so we have decided to drop the charges," said Thanapich Mulapruk, spokesman for the Office of the Attorney General, in a statement.

"Their countries of origin want to try the men in their home countries," he said.

Another official from the attorney general's office said the Belarussian pilot and four Kazakh crew would not be formally extradited.

"(We) are sending an official to file a petition with the court to release all five men," Kayasit Pissawanprkan told reporters. "This is not an extradition but we consider them as having entered (Thailand) illegally."

No decision has been taken on what to do with the seized haul, which arrived on December 11 when the crew requested to land their Russian-made Ilyushin-76 plane at Thailand's domestic Don Mueang airport for refuelling.

The men claimed they were carrying oil drilling equipment bound for Ukraine.

The 35-tonne cargo, which included missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, is being held at an air force base north of Bangkok.

"The plane landed to refuel. Those arms were not aimed at attacking Thailand so the trial does not benefit (us)," added Thanapich.

Police had charged the five men with possessing illegal weapons and ammunition, smuggling weapons and other banned products and failing to report the cache.

Kazakhstan and Belarus both petitioned Thailand to ask for their nationals to be released for trial in their home countries.

A flight plan obtained by investigators showed the plane was bound for Iran, while US intelligence chief Dennis Blair has said that it was headed for an unspecified Middle Eastern destination.

The United Nations banned all North Korean arms exports in a tougher resolution passed in June following the North's latest missile and nuclear tests.

The Bangkok case is believed to be the first airborne arms cargo from Pyongyang to have been seized since then.

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-02-11

Published with written approval from AFP.

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[Pomthai]

Didn't expect this, lucky for them they were only smuggling arms and breaking international law / sanctions. Imagine what could have happened if the popped into a pharmacy and bought some Valium or Viagra!!! They'd be in deep poo poo then.

Amazing Thailand Indeed.

[Thai at Heart]

This is without doubt, the largest case of TIT one could ever hope to see.

What would you have to do more than get caught with TONS of illegal arms to end up in court here?

They won't let you onto a flight leaving Thailand with an excessive amount of aftershave in your hand luggage, but you can pilot your own cargo flight with illegal arms?

[junglist]

i think this is a nice way of saying thanks guys. Job well done see you next time we need more arms. Love the Little Red Army.

[wintermute]

i think this is a nice way of saying thanks guys. Job well done see you next time we need more arms. Love the Little Red Army.

I think it's more of a case of "thanks we'll see you back in your own country where state sanction rendition agreements with the CIA can allow us to interrogate you at will without prying third party eyes in Thailand"

[BanTamo]

Ya think?

[sinplyred]

To busy chasing Thaksin, ah corruption lives on

[A. BOOZER]

Is Thailand going to keep the somewhat aging transport plane? It's a bit big for a gate guardian, isn't it?

Edited February 11, 2010 by A. BOOZER

[george]

Update:

Five air crew members of plane carrying weapons from NKorea will be deported after Attorney General's Offce dropped charges against them.

-- TNA 2010-02-11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[webfact]

UPDATE

NORTH KOREAN ARMS PLANE

Five crew members go free

BANGKOK: -- The Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) announced on Thursday it would not indict the five foreign crew members arrested for flying into Bangkok in a weapons-loaded cargo plane late last year, making way for them to be deported to their country.

The crew; pilot Mikhail Petukhov, 54, of Belarus, while the other four - Alexander Zrybnev, 53; Viktor Abdullaev, 58; Vitaly Shumkov, 54; and Ilias Isakov, 53 - come from Kazakhstan.

The five are expected to be deported today.

They stopped their Georgia-registered Ilyushin IL-76 aircraft l in Don Muang Airport for refuelling in December last year. They were arrested after 35-tonne shipment of arms from North Korea were found in their plane.

The OAG said the announcement on Thursday that Thailand did not involve in the matter.

The decision not to indict is reportedly being made at the request of the government, which has complied with the request of authorities in Belarus and Kazakhstan as they want to prosecute their own nationals.

-- The Nation 2010-02-11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[thaikahuna]

I hope that someone has the good sense to keep the plane and the arms. Since the government is always looking for more things to provide to the military, these would be good. As far as the deportation is concerned, that will only last until they can get new passports I am guessing...

[TonyH]

Ah! this is great news... let them go and keep the weapons for the upcoming civil war, very useful cache.

[Roachiebkk]

Update:

Five air crew members of plane carrying weapons from NKorea will be deported after Attorney General's Offce dropped charges against them.

-- TNA 2010-02-11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

Lucky they didn't nick into King Power for some Duty-Free they would certainly have ended up in trouble.

[maxman71]

I hope that someone has the good sense to keep the plane and the arms. Since the government is always looking for more things to provide to the military, these would be good. As far as the deportation is concerned, that will only last until they can get new passports I am guessing...

The real kicker would be if LOS returns the cargo to N. Korea for cold, hard cash (counterfeit maybe). Who knows what real story is behind this.

[robert00]

I am sure a wellcoming party is ready for them, including Vodka and Caviar. Well done Thailand.

[aussiemarkinthailand]

$$$$$ TALKS,

[ding]

wow, nfg

[george]

Update:

Thailand to deport crews of weapons cargo plane

BANGKOK: -- Thai prosecutors decided to drop charges against the five crews of an aircraft alleged of smuggling weapons from North Korea.

The crews will be deported to maintain good relations with their home countries.

The Attorney General's Office said the decision was made after the governments of Belarus and Kazakhstan contacted the Thai Foreign Ministry and requested the crew's release to face prosecution at their respective home country.

-- The Nation 2010-02-11

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[LazyCat]

you guys must be all nuts or something, the fault of these guys that they are PILOTS and CREW of a plane, I don't think it's their fault, they are just working for a cargo company and will take the plane from point A to point B . You wouldn't blame a crew of a plane that carried Saddam, or Osama Bin Laden as passangers?????

the cargo company who GOT this job and GOT PAID accordingly to the cargo they agreed to move AND was putting them at risk is no where to be seen!!!! I would think they are more to blame.

OR would you think that these 5 men got the weapon transporting gig by themselves, right and they just happened to have a plane to transport it ????? it's not same as "buy a pickup truck and do the "shifting and moving" on it in your free time" !!!

Edited February 11, 2010 by LazyCat

[LazyCat]

I am sure a wellcoming party is ready for them, including Vodka and Caviar. Well done Thailand.

they are just normal folks, you don't kinow the situation, just like any other crew, got paid just as much and there will be happy families meeting them home not some MAFIA and vodka/caviar celebration.... they are simple guys. Sad that no one understands this. it is not like the movies you se about narcobarons where the whole plane knows and gets paid millions to transport the thing, they were ust hired crew of a cargo company who got the gig.

[sutyot]

Is Thailand going to keep the somewhat aging transport plane? It's a bit big for a gate guardian, isn't it?

I also wonder if they will keep that old IL-76 airplane. The cargo is of higher value than the plane itself. I saw a 1986 IL-76TD for sale at $1.5M "as is, where is".

[mythBuster]

Of course they will let them go. They rather put a handful of children in jail for using a few pills than that they take a stance against international (North Korean) arms trafficking. The current Thai government is made up solely out of heroes.

[Foggy Bottom]

I can just hear all the Thai generals looking at the cargo and plane and doing impersonations of the seagulls in the movie "Finding Nemo" ....

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine!"

"Mine too!"

[steelepulse]

you guys must be all nuts or something, the fault of these guys that they are PILOTS and CREW of a plane, I don't think it's their fault, they are just working for a cargo company and will take the plane from point A to point B . You wouldn't blame a crew of a plane that carried Saddam, or Osama Bin Laden as passangers?????

the cargo company who GOT this job and GOT PAID accordingly to the cargo they agreed to move AND was putting them at risk is no where to be seen!!!! I would think they are more to blame.

OR would you think that these 5 men got the weapon transporting gig by themselves, right and they just happened to have a plane to transport it ????? it's not same as "buy a pickup truck and do the "shifting and moving" on it in your free time" !!!

I'm just curious if these guys actually inspect their cargo. I sure would hope they inspect and don't take the manifest's word for it, especially with a dubious flight plan to/fro sketchy countries. Last thing they need to be doing is transporting illegal narcotics or perhaps some radioactive material that isn't sealed. Don't drug couriers get caught all the time and insist they didn't know, or that it wasn't theirs? Do then the countries they get caught in say, " We believe you and you're just doing your job, you're free to go" NOT!

[Thai at Heart]

So to the apologists out there, transporting something illegal, is ok, if you are a little guy? Quite bizarre logic. What about a drugs mule transiting Bangkok?

Someone tell the BIB who camp out on the bloody highway day after day waiting for Somchai in his pick up with a false bottom full of pills.

Like it or lump it, you don't accidentally pick up a plane full of guns from North Korea. It's their bad luck to get caught, but that is the nature of the beast.

[spode]

you guys must be all nuts or something, the fault of these guys that they are PILOTS and CREW of a plane, I don't think it's their fault, they are just working for a cargo company and will take the plane from point A to point B .

I see your point, but that would be a notable double-standard.

Examples:

- I am responsible for the contents of my own luggage. If someone else slips something in there without my knowledge, I can go to prison for it -- It's hard to prove you did not do it yourself.

- And if I choose to bring something which I do not realize violates a law, then I can go to prison for it -- Ignorance of the law is rarely a valid excuse.

- And if my boss orders me to do something illegal, then I can still go to prison for it. Of course the boss could get a worse sentence, but 'just following orders' is not a good enough excuse.

-Spode

[george]

Update:

Thailand drops case against air crew with North Korea arms

by Thanaporn Promyamyai

BANGKOK: -- (AFP) Thailand on Thursday dropped a case against a plane crew who landed in the country carrying sanctions-busting weapons from North Korea, saying it was not in the national interest to prosecute.

Officials said the Belarussian pilot and Kazakh crew would be deported to face trial in their home countries.

"The trial here will not benefit Thailand so we have decided to drop the charges," said Thanapich Mulapruk, spokesman for the attorney general's office, in a statement.

"Their countries of origin want to try the men in their home countries."

Another official from the attorney general's office said the five men would not be formally extradited.

"This is not an extradition but we consider them as having entered (Thailand) illegally," Kayasit Pissawanprkan told reporters.

Prison authorities said they were awaiting a court order to hand the men over to police for fingerprinting before they are in turn handed to immigration officials for deportation.

No decision has been taken on what to do with the seized haul, which arrived on December 11, when the crew requested to land their Ilyushin-76 plane at Thailand's domestic Don Mueang airport for refuelling.

The men claimed they were carrying oil drilling equipment bound for Ukraine.

The 35-tonne cargo, which included missiles and rocket-propelled grenades, is being held at an air force base north of Bangkok.

Thai authorities intercepted the haul following a tip-off from US authorities.

A spokeswoman for the US Embassy in Bangkok said she could not immediately comment on the release.

Thanapich added: "The plane landed to refuel. Those arms were not aimed at attacking Thailand so the trial does not benefit (us)."

Police had charged the five with possessing illegal weapons and ammunition, smuggling weapons and other banned products and failing to report the cache.

Kazakhstan and Belarus both petitioned Thailand to ask for their nationals to be released for trial in their home countries.

A flight plan obtained by investigators showed the plane was bound for Iran, while US intelligence chief Dennis Blair has said that it was headed for an unspecified Middle Eastern destination.

Analyst Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of the Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn university, said the decision to release the men was a blow to the United States.

"It will be received as another point against Thailand in the American scheme of things," said Thitinan, adding that Thailand did not want to gain enemies by proceeding with the case.

"I think the conclusion here was that the North Koreans have sparred with the Americans and there's a UN resolution on this, but why should Thailand be dragged into it?" he said.

The United Nations banned all North Korean arms exports in a tougher resolution passed in June following the North's latest missile and nuclear tests.

The Bangkok case is believed to be the first airborne arms cargo from Pyongyang to have been seized since then.

The five men had been held at the same jail as Russian alleged arms dealer Viktor Bout, dubbed the "Merchant of Death".

He was arrested in Bangkok in March 2008 while allegedly agreeing to supply missiles to Colombian rebels. The Thai government is perceived to have worked closely with Washington on that case and is appealing a court decision rejecting a US request for his extradition.

<img src=http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/pics/afplogo.jpg target="_blank">

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-02-11

Published with written approval from AFP.

[newsfooter][/newsfooter]

[asiawatcher]

Too hard - were they taking orders? Doubtful! They knew their cargo and would have been paid accordingly. But TIT. The case of the British Airways (Heathrow Baggage Handler) Passenger who tried to open the door mid-flight, was drunk, and the crew forcefully overpowered him, was arrested on arrival in BKK. He too was deported and fined 4,000 Baht! These guys get off free?

These guys were taking serious weapons - not pop guns - into another airspace. They miscalculated or whatever and had to land the plane in Thailand. Arms runners or Drug runners, usually not much difference. And they walk but heaven help you if you knock off a bar matt or damage a jet ski.

Nope - no sense, no rhyme or reason in this country. The only good thing is someone is out of pocket and the arms (hopefully) will not go to the use originally intended. No doubt they will NOT be destroyed but used here.

Strange country this one and even stranger - the legal system!

[RKASA]

Well! they are busy with all sort of poor mules they need to execute. As for these guys, It's not like they work for the lord of war and don't know who he is. Thats like saying Col. North just worked for the white house, no problem.

[Dap]

Then it begs the question ... if you fly ypour own nailclippers, aftershave, an errant bottle or two of Jack, maybe a few thousand Viagra (with scrip of course) in your own cargo craft, can you expect to walk away scott free

This is without doubt, the largest case of TIT one could ever hope to see.

What would you have to do more than get caught with TONS of illegal arms to end up in court here?

They won't let you onto a flight leaving Thailand with an excessive amount of aftershave in your hand luggage, but you can pilot your own cargo flight with illegal arms?