Sister Of Italian Killed In Thai Protests Slams Money Offer

[webfact]

Sister of Italian killed in Thai protests slams money offer

BANGKOK, December 3, 2010 (AFP) - The sister of an Italian photographer killed in Bangkok during this year's anti-government protests accused Thai authorities of offering money to "close our mouths," in a letter released Friday.

Elisabetta Polenghi's brother Fabio was gunned down on May 19, the day of the bloody military crackdown in Bangkok that brought two months of "Red Shirt" demonstrations to an end.

"Certainly, the institutions in Thailand have made offers of financial compensation as you well know," Polenghi said in the letter to Somsakdi Suriyawongse, Thailand's ambassador in Rome.

She described those offers as "absolutely inappropriate" and said "we believe it is an obvious attempt to close our mouths and pay back the dignity of our Fabio with a little money".

Polenghi was killed while working as a freelance photographer covering the protest, in which thousands of Reds brought Bangkok's retail heart to a standstill for two months with demands for snap elections.

Days of street battles between armed troops and protesters during the April and May unrest left over 90 people dead and nearly 1,900 injured, mainly civilians.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has suggested that troops may have been involved in the deaths of 13 people -- including Hiro Muramoto, a Japanese cameraman working for Reuters news agency.

But details of the investigation into the other deaths are scant.

Polenghi's letter, sent in response to an invitation to celebrate the December 5 birthday of Thailand's king Bhumibol Adulyadej, said the authorities had "not the slightest awareness of the seriousness of the situation" for her family.

"After more than six months, the circumstances of Fabio's death and the results of the investigations, carried out by the Thai authorities, have not yet been made known to us," she said.

"The 'efforts' of the Thai authorities, in this sense, can certainly not be considered satisfactory or exhaustive."

She wished the king a happy birthday, but added she was sure he would be "living moments of great suffering and embarassment due to how the local authorities are treating the relatives of the many victims" (sic).

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2010-12-03

[housepainter]

The Thai authorities have badly handled this one it would seem.

The usual Asian response that you can solve anything with money, or at least make it go away, may well apply to the many powerless Thai people, but it doesn't work overseas. Especially, in modern Europe.

When in a hole stop digging, but of course they won't. Neither will some Thai with vision take over and make the right overtures as that would mean causing the losing of face. As we all know, a Thai can not lose face.

They do all the time of course in our well focussed Western eyes, but here, where justice is buried along with many of those who do protest, acceptance and giving up hope is a way of surviving. Survivng all those terrible injustices that happen on a daily basis to ordinary Thais themselves.

Shame no-one had the foresight to see this one, the death of a foreign journalist, as being the potential time bomb that it is. The International media has two journalists killed covering the same story, in the same City, at the same time. I can't re-call many of those in Iraq or in Helmund province where the details are not made known.

Furthermore, when we are told the bare facts of the death of hostages in botched rescue attempts by grenade throwing Americans, and we cope with the truth, the unfortunate truth, should it not be best that the facts are made known here?

Apparently not. But it's all the family want. But then there's face to consider.

So the story won't go away. Thailand's reputation goes further down the pan. The years will be dragged out as the family pursue justice and the truth. Journalist Associations will hang it around Thailand's neck.

Is there any hope that one day things will improve? Any hope that truth will replace lies and deceit in Thailand.

We can only hope.

Edited December 3, 2010 by housepainter

[Wavefloater]

I hate to sound unsympathetic to the victim's family, but I always had the impression that if a person decides to deem oneself a freelance photographer and enter into the midst of a war zone (and that's what Bangkok virtually was at times during the red shirt protests) aren't they accepting the danger associated with that type of profession?

I might get slammed and called a callus jerk for asking that, but I really always had the impression that a person was basically forfeiting their civil rights when choosing not heed warnings by entering into what is obviously a seriously dangerous situation.

[apetley]

Wavefloater, i agree that the journalists were going into a dangerous situation, knew what they were getting into and presumably accepted the risks.

What I can't accept that even in this extreme situation a person gives up their human rights and is fair game for extra judicial killings.

The family have a right to know the circumstances of their loved ones death and if that means someone in the Thai military being called to book then so be it.

[jayjay0]

Wavefloater, i agree that the journalists were going into a dangerous situation, knew what they were getting into and presumably accepted the risks.

What I can't accept that even in this extreme situation a person gives up their human rights and is fair game for extra judicial killings.

The family have a right to know the circumstances of their loved ones death and if that means someone in the Thai military being called to book then so be it.

He got what you get in a war zone.

What are you going to do. Analyze every death. What will it serve other than to keep the battle going.

If I remember correctly offering them money is the standard operating procedure. It in no way denies blame. Remember the red shirt who blew him self up. His relatives received money. The Government was in no way hiding any thing. They were just following SOP.

The best way in the world to keep there pain alive is to fight it

Funny how the red shirts can start it and deny they had any thing to do with it in spite of many videos of them inciting and participating in it. And every one jumps on the Government.

[Wavefloater]

Wavefloater, i agree that the journalists were going into a dangerous situation, knew what they were getting into and presumably accepted the risks.

What I can't accept that even in this extreme situation a person gives up their human rights and is fair game for extra judicial killings.

The family have a right to know the circumstances of their loved ones death and if that means someone in the Thai military being called to book then so be it.

I certainly didn't say that one is giving up their "human rights", I said "civil rights", and to me that's very different.

[Pi Sek]

Yes, jayjay0 is right on this one - the offer of money was the standard offer of "compensation", not a bribe of silence or whatever.

It's still not known who was to blame - could have been on either side, but my guess is he was standing close to armed elements within the UDD, in a blume of tyre smoke, holding a camera and pointing it at the army.

If I was a soldier and had bullets whistling past my ears, I'm not sure if I'd have the self-discipline to get out my infra-red see-through-smoke binoculars - if I had any - before shooting what may well have looked like someone with a gun. Although that's not to say it was "right" - or even "wrong".

[slapout]

Some questions that the survivors and those concerned with the fatalities, have, cannot/will not ever be answered. This whole exercise was a instigated riot which was confined to a relatively small area of Bangkok with police, military personnel and instigators on both sides. Investigations were launched days after the fact with few if any unbiased witness/testimony from any one of the various groups involved. Most people recognize that there is no black and white in Thailand, but in this instance there were several shades of different colors/thoughts which will probably hinder any real answers ever being released.

[apollo13]

The guy took a hit whilst wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of army combat trousers which was the garb worn by many 'red guards\men in black' and would have dramatically increased the chances of him being mistaken as such. In a photo I saw, he was also wearing a blue helmet with' PRESS ' printed on it in yellow.As to whether this helmet is standard issue for the press and should be recognised from a distance by the army or whether it was 'home made' from a motorbike helmet i must admit ignorance but I didn't spot a 'PRESS' armband on the guy which many other journalists and photographers did have. Anyway, he died doing what he loved but maybe didn't have proper training on how to move around in a combat zone as a member of the press. The guys from CNN and BBC all came home safely. Anyway, RIP Fabio.

[Cnxforever]

Wavefloater, i agree that the journalists were going into a dangerous situation, knew what they were getting into and presumably accepted the risks.

What I can't accept that even in this extreme situation a person gives up their human rights and is fair game for extra judicial killings.

The family have a right to know the circumstances of their loved ones death and if that means someone in the Thai military being called to book then so be it.

It will never happen - no one will ever be brought to justice.

This was no accident ! An accident would have been if a stray bullet would have hit him - or if he would have at least only been shot once!

He was lying on the ground and was shot again and again - this was plain and simple murder by the drigger happy monkeys in uniform with imunity given to them by the emergency degrees!

If you give a brainwashed individual with not even half a brain a weapon, live ammunition and a "free fire zone" what you think is going to happen?

[12DrinkMore]

If you give a brainwashed individual with not even half a brain a weapon, live ammunition and a "free fire zone" what you think is going to happen?

How much brain do you credit the photographer with?

[animatic]

The guy took a hit whilst wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of army combat trousers which was the garb worn by many 'red guards\men in black' and would have dramatically increased the chances of him being mistaken as such. In a photo I saw, he was also wearing a blue helmet with' PRESS ' printed on it in yellow.As to whether this helmet is standard issue for the press and should be recognised from a distance by the army or whether it was 'home made' from a motorbike helmet i must admit ignorance but I didn't spot a 'PRESS' armband on the guy which many other journalists and photographers did have. Anyway, he died doing what he loved but maybe didn't have proper training on how to move around in a combat zone as a member of the press. The guys from CNN and BBC all came home safely. Anyway, RIP Fabio.

I had this same set of opinions at the time.

He didn't understand the 'dress code'

He went in without clearly understanding the dynamics of the situation.

He went into an obvious war zone situation.

He carried a long lenses on a camera that could easily be mistaken for a grenade launcher. While joining a group who were thought to have members dressed as he was with grenade launchers.

If I saw something from a distance pointed at me that resembled a deadly weapon in such a situation, I can't say I would not fire on them if I thought I was targeted. Not to mentiuon those who absolutely did not want their image taken, and would prevent that at all costs.

Sad to say, but it seems he is more than a little responsible for his own end. Doesn't mean his sister will accept the answers she will get, nor find ones she thinks she wants. And no, I doubt it is being handled in anything resembling a western manner.

Edited December 3, 2010 by animatic

[softgeorge]

The guy took a hit whilst wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of army combat trousers which was the garb worn by many 'red guards\men in black' and would have dramatically increased the chances of him being mistaken as such. In a photo I saw, he was also wearing a blue helmet with' PRESS ' printed on it in yellow.As to whether this helmet is standard issue for the press and should be recognised from a distance by the army or whether it was 'home made' from a motorbike helmet i must admit ignorance but I didn't spot a 'PRESS' armband on the guy which many other journalists and photographers did have. Anyway, he died doing what he loved but maybe didn't have proper training on how to move around in a combat zone as a member of the press. The guys from CNN and BBC all came home safely. Anyway, RIP Fabio.

The guys from CNN and BBC do not always come home safely, they were lucky in BKK and thank god they did go home safely. You can have all the training in the world but you will never outrun a bullet. Who was it that murdered this poor guy? Yellow or reds?

[Insight]

The guy took a hit whilst wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of army combat trousers which was the garb worn by many 'red guards\men in black' and would have dramatically increased the chances of him being mistaken as such. In a photo I saw, he was also wearing a blue helmet with' PRESS ' printed on it in yellow.As to whether this helmet is standard issue for the press and should be recognised from a distance by the army or whether it was 'home made' from a motorbike helmet i must admit ignorance but I didn't spot a 'PRESS' armband on the guy which many other journalists and photographers did have. Anyway, he died doing what he loved but maybe didn't have proper training on how to move around in a combat zone as a member of the press. The guys from CNN and BBC all came home safely. Anyway, RIP Fabio.

The guys from CNN and BBC do not always come home safely, they were lucky in BKK and thank god they did go home safely. You can have all the training in the world but you will never outrun a bullet. Who was it that murdered this poor guy? Yellow or reds?

There were "yellow's" there? Who do you mean?

[apollo13]

The guy took a hit whilst wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of army combat trousers which was the garb worn by many 'red guards\men in black' and would have dramatically increased the chances of him being mistaken as such. In a photo I saw, he was also wearing a blue helmet with' PRESS ' printed on it in yellow.As to whether this helmet is standard issue for the press and should be recognised from a distance by the army or whether it was 'home made' from a motorbike helmet i must admit ignorance but I didn't spot a 'PRESS' armband on the guy which many other journalists and photographers did have. Anyway, he died doing what he loved but maybe didn't have proper training on how to move around in a combat zone as a member of the press. The guys from CNN and BBC all came home safely. Anyway, RIP Fabio.

The guys from CNN and BBC do not always come home safely, they were lucky in BKK and thank god they did go home safely. You can have all the training in the world but you will never outrun a bullet. Who was it that murdered this poor guy? Yellow or reds?

Try substituting 'lucky' with 'careful' or 'prudent '. A professional journalist needs more than luck when operating in an active combat zone.

Edited December 3, 2010 by apollo13

[OzMick]

Wavefloater, i agree that the journalists were going into a dangerous situation, knew what they were getting into and presumably accepted the risks.

What I can't accept that even in this extreme situation a person gives up their human rights and is fair game for extra judicial killings.

The family have a right to know the circumstances of their loved ones death and if that means someone in the Thai military being called to book then so be it.

It will never happen - no one will ever be brought to justice.

This was no accident ! An accident would have been if a stray bullet would have hit him - or if he would have at least only been shot once!

He was lying on the ground and was shot again and again - this was plain and simple murder by the drigger happy monkeys in uniform with imunity given to them by the emergency degrees!

If you give a brainwashed individual with not even half a brain a weapon, live ammunition and a "free fire zone" what you think is going to happen?

You seem to make the assumption that he was shot by the military when no evidence has been presented by anyone that this is the case. He was taking photographs of people who may well have realised that those pictures could lead to their future incarceration for extended periods, or do you think the kwai daeng were too stupid to work that out?

The only brainwashed individuals with not half a brain, a weapon and live ammunition were not wearing military uniforms, they were wearing black T-shirts and camo pants very similar to the Italian.

His sister finds the offer of compensation money distasteful. Has she asked herself why her brother put himself in that situation? Money perhaps?

Edited December 3, 2010 by metisdead
Insulting word removed.

[nattility]

Does anyone have any clue why Thai Embassy in Rome send her an invitation to celebrate the King's birthday? ... It doesn't really make sense to me ...

[AleG]

Did any Thai authority actually said or suggested that she should shut up in exchange for the compensation money?

Looks like a knee-jerk reaction. I'm sorry for her loss but getting so aggressive with the rhetoric like that is not going to help much to find the answers she wants.

[rubl]

Wavefloater, i agree that the journalists were going into a dangerous situation, knew what they were getting into and presumably accepted the risks.

What I can't accept that even in this extreme situation a person gives up their human rights and is fair game for extra judicial killings.

The family have a right to know the circumstances of their loved ones death and if that means someone in the Thai military being called to book then so be it.

It will never happen - no one will ever be brought to justice.

This was no accident ! An accident would have been if a stray bullet would have hit him - or if he would have at least only been shot once!

He was lying on the ground and was shot again and again - this was plain and simple murder by the drigger happy monkeys in uniform with imunity given to them by the emergency degrees!

If you give a brainwashed individual with not even half a brain a weapon, live ammunition and a "free fire zone" what you think is going to happen?

It seems Fabio Polenghi was hit ONCE in the stomach, no mention of 'again and again' anywhere. He died of this wound.

To suggest 'drigger happy monkeys' and 'shot again and again' is therefor a blatant lie and an insult to the Thai armed forces ! This is against forum rules !

Of course if you can offer proof I will retract this comment gracefully

[metisdead]

Insulting/offensive post removed from view.

[passon]

Well, thank goodness you were not the one making that decision, but by all means, let us fault the person who is taking the picture, the one who does take a calculated risk to report the news, to help document the truth; you know, to take pictures of people who don't like having their picture taken, especially the ones who are violating the law. How absolutely caviler of you to say, "Well, he ain't got much to boast about now!" So, let's follow your lead and completely dismiss accountability; it was the photographers fault!

Edited December 3, 2010 by metisdead
Removed previously deleted quote and reply to it.

[apollo13]

Wavefloater, i agree that the journalists were going into a dangerous situation, knew what they were getting into and presumably accepted the risks.

What I can't accept that even in this extreme situation a person gives up their human rights and is fair game for extra judicial killings.

The family have a right to know the circumstances of their loved ones death and if that means someone in the Thai military being called to book then so be it.

It will never happen - no one will ever be brought to justice.

This was no accident ! An accident would have been if a stray bullet would have hit him - or if he would have at least only been shot once!

He was lying on the ground and was shot again and again - this was plain and simple murder by the drigger happy monkeys in uniform with imunity given to them by the emergency degrees!

If you give a brainwashed individual with not even half a brain a weapon, live ammunition and a "free fire zone" what you think is going to happen?

It seems Fabio Polenghi was hit ONCE in the stomach, no mention of 'again and again' anywhere. He died of this wound.

To suggest 'drigger happy monkeys' and 'shot again and again' is therefor a blatant lie and an insult to the Thai armed forces ! This is against forum rules !

Of course if you can offer proof I will retract this comment gracefully

single shot in the heart, maybe just above- seen in photos just after being shot

[monkfish]

May be I am reading a different article to the rest of TV members?

The way I understand the article is that she isn't really complaining about the fact he was killed.

But about the fact that no information is being released.

[jayboy]

The guy took a hit whilst wearing a black T-shirt and a pair of army combat trousers which was the garb worn by many 'red guards\men in black' and would have dramatically increased the chances of him being mistaken as such. In a photo I saw, he was also wearing a blue helmet with' PRESS ' printed on it in yellow.As to whether this helmet is standard issue for the press and should be recognised from a distance by the army or whether it was 'home made' from a motorbike helmet i must admit ignorance but I didn't spot a 'PRESS' armband on the guy which many other journalists and photographers did have. Anyway, he died doing what he loved but maybe didn't have proper training on how to move around in a combat zone as a member of the press. The guys from CNN and BBC all came home safely. Anyway, RIP Fabio.

I had this same set of opinions at the time.

He didn't understand the 'dress code'

He went in without clearly understanding the dynamics of the situation.

He went into an obvious war zone situation.

He carried a long lenses on a camera that could easily be mistaken for a grenade launcher. While joining a group who were thought to have members dressed as he was with grenade launchers.

If I saw something from a distance pointed at me that resembled a deadly weapon in such a situation, I can't say I would not fire on them if I thought I was targeted. Not to mentiuon those who absolutely did not want their image taken, and would prevent that at all costs.

Sad to say, but it seems he is more than a little responsible for his own end. Doesn't mean his sister will accept the answers she will get, nor find ones she thinks she wants. And no, I doubt it is being handled in anything resembling a western manner.

Shameful post but he is probably incapable of understanding why.

[Phatcharanan]

This was no accident ! An accident would have been if a stray bullet would have hit him - or if he would have at least only been shot once!

He was lying on the ground and was shot again and again - this was plain and simple murder

He was shot the once.

Where do you get all this bullshit info from? Something you dreamed?

[Thormaturge]

I hate to sound unsympathetic to the victim's family, but I always had the impression that if a person decides to deem oneself a freelance photographer and enter into the midst of a war zone (and that's what Bangkok virtually was at times during the red shirt protests) aren't they accepting the danger associated with that type of profession?

I might get slammed and called a callus jerk for asking that, but I really always had the impression that a person was basically forfeiting their civil rights when choosing not heed warnings by entering into what is obviously a seriously dangerous situation.

I agree with you, but in some ways I think this point makes the monetary offer even more callous.

Those of us living in Bangkok at the time knew to avoid certain areas, and Fabio chose to go there anyway in pursuit of his work. That he was perhaps naive is another issue. Without people like thiswe may never have known as much as we do, so he deserves our appreciation. God help us if we have to rely on CNN and the BBC. The BBC got the entire story wrong (Did they really have any reporters in Thailand?) and CNN's reporting was lame, although I enjoyed their encounter with Jeff Savage.

Money shouldn't come into it.

So why has it........?

[whybother]

I hate to sound unsympathetic to the victim's family, but I always had the impression that if a person decides to deem oneself a freelance photographer and enter into the midst of a war zone (and that's what Bangkok virtually was at times during the red shirt protests) aren't they accepting the danger associated with that type of profession?

I might get slammed and called a callus jerk for asking that, but I really always had the impression that a person was basically forfeiting their civil rights when choosing not heed warnings by entering into what is obviously a seriously dangerous situation.

I agree with you, but in some ways I think this point makes the monetary offer even more callous.

Those of us living in Bangkok at the time knew to avoid certain areas, and Fabio chose to go there anyway in pursuit of his work. That he was perhaps naive is another issue. Without people like thiswe may never have known as much as we do, so he deserves our appreciation. God help us if we have to rely on CNN and the BBC. The BBC got the entire story wrong (Did they really have any reporters in Thailand?) and CNN's reporting was lame, although I enjoyed their encounter with Jeff Savage.

Money shouldn't come into it.

So why has it........?

SOP for the government. They even gave money to the family of the bomber who blew himself up with his own bomb.

[jayjay0]

Well, thank goodness you were not the one making that decision, but by all means, let us fault the person who is taking the picture, the one who does take a calculated risk to report the news, to help document the truth; you know, to take pictures of people who don't like having their picture taken, especially the ones who are violating the law. How absolutely caviler of you to say, "Well, he ain't got much to boast about now!" So, let's follow your lead and completely dismiss accountability; it was the photographers fault!

I agree it was the photographers fault. You are a very perceptive man.

[phiphidon]

Having read through the comments so far the consensus appears to be that the reporter only had himself to blame, by either being there in the first place, not realising he could be shot by the red shirts according to one poster, wearing black and therefore offering himself as a target by another poster, being obscured by smoke and therefore a target, having the temerity to die from one bullet instead of several and best of all getting shot because he probably had a camera with a long lens that could be mistaken with a grenade launcher whilst mingling with people who were carrying and allegedly using grenade launchers. Now take a long hard look at yourselves and accept that it looks likely that he was doing a dangerous job, wearing a flak jacket and helmet, identified as press, was shot and died as a result of a gunshot wound to the stomach, probably by the army as the initial report after 6 months from CRES suggests. Why all the angry noise about the deceased? Why is it that the army more than likely were responsible for killing the photographer upset you so? Does it upset your ordered view of the events of April/May?

[creck]

Agree with the poster who cannot see how the photographer can be wholly to blame. The fact is that civilians in a war zone still have rights. I am sure this guy was clearly marked as ‘Press’. There was not even a war. There was only one Army, and probably some armed insurgents. Not only this foreigner but all the unarmed civilians killed should be regarded as unlawful killings and investigated.

‘ The family have a right to know the circumstances of their loved ones death and if that means someone in the Thai military being called to book, then so be it. ‘ – right on.

Recently American, British and Israeli army personnel have been hauled up for killing civilians – why should the Thai Army be different? Soldiers who think they will never be challenged can only be controlled by believing that someone will ask questions and dig out the truth.

Unfortunately I also believe that will not happen here in my lifetime – it is too big a change. But it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness. Where and how to find and light the candle is not in my power.