Thai Justice Ministry Moves Forward With Red-Shirt Aid Plan

[webfact]

RED-SHIRT MOVEMENT

Justice Ministry moves forward with aid plan

By The Nation

Of 180 protesters, leaders in prison, 151 accept legal help from rights body

Justice Ministry officials visited red-shirt leaders at Bangkok Remand Prison yesterday afternoon to discuss possible legal aid and bail requests.

The visit followed a meeting between the prime minister, caretaker red-shirt leader Thida Tawornsate Tojirakarn and former red-shirt leader Veera Musigapong on Thursday.

Rights and Liberties Protection Department director general Suwanna Suwanjutha said 180 red-shirt leaders and activists were detained in prisons and 151 of them had accepted the department's offer of legal assistance.

Only 29 of them, mainly protest leaders, rejected the department's offer of legal aid and said they did not want to meet rights and liberties officials, Suwanna said.

Nineteen leaders of the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAA) are being detained in Bangkok Remand Prison, while another 10 are being kept in separate cells in other prisons.

Suwanna said the department would file bail requests for 11 red-shirt detainees again as some of them still lacked complete documents. The department was also verifying the documents of other detainees.

Thida, who did not meet Suwanna at the prison yesterday, said she was grateful that the officers were sent to help the detained red shirts quite quickly.

She said she let detained red-shirt leaders see the news report of her meeting with Abhisit and none of them opposed her proposal.

Previously only Nattawut Saikua allowed state officials to help with his bail request. But now other leaders were relieved to accept the help, she said.

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban said Abhisit told him he had accidentally met Thida and former Thai Rak Thai key member Watana Muangsook.

Watana did not offer much in the way of interesting proposals, Suthep said.

Suthep said assistance would start with ordinary protesters as they were not the people who led the protest and caused chaos.

However, the investigators would have to consider carefully whether to file bail requests for the key red shirts, he said.

He said he was not certain whether peace talks would succeed. While Veera was a peaceful person, some other red shirts did not agree with him, Suthep said.

Meanwhile, the Criminal Court yesterday approved warrants to arrest five red-shirt leaders who fled since the crackdown in May.

The five, accused of links to terrorism under the state of emergency, are Arisman Pongruangrong, Suporn Attawong, Adisorn Piengket, Waipot Apornrat and Payap Panket.

The Department of Special Investigations obtained the warrants in preparation for trials.

The cases related to terrorism under the state of emergency must be built before the lifting of emergency rule next week.

In a separate development, the Criminal Court yesterday ruled to postpone its verdict on Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan's libel case until the questioning of seven more defence witnesses is completed.

The court has scheduled the hearings to begin on January 25 and to be completed within three sessions.

It will allow the testimony to proceed in Jatuporn's absence.

-- The Nation 2010-12-18

[housepainter]

Personally, I'd like to see the leaders, not the 150 mis-guided souls who pocketed 500 baht a day as rent a mob, just the leaders, those trumped up self-inflated pompous knuckle draggers, quietly forgotten about and left to rot in prison under normal prison conditions. More rats than you can shake a stick at - or east in one sitting.

That is a Victor Bout diet and a cell with a TV. TransVestite.

At the same time there other leaders of this red shirted rabble who are on the run. I hope it's like a lemming.

A strong message needs to be sent out. Those in custody should be hammered under the law and maximum sentences delivered. Let the Government exert a bit of infuence of its own for a change. Most of those now incarcerated will have spent years buying their way out of a jail sentence. Now its time to serve one.

The same strong message sent to Thaksin, of make a mistake and we'll have you extradited, along with we're waiting to lock you up, should be sent to all of these mindless thug types who act above the law.

And as for Thida representing the red shirts ............. if anything would make them pack it in it's the thought of a beauracratic academic with a charisma by-pass leading them. Most of us think of following someone like Patton, Alexander or Montgonery into battle. Not Auntie Fanny. If its to be her peaceful way - and that's welcome - well, she's hardly the next Ghandi now is she?

I wonder if she's ever thought of shaving her head? Glasses might help.

If ever a group of non-entities, devoid of ideology or reason and incapable of public leadership or service existed, other than Hicks and Gillet who ruined Liverpool, then this is it.

They have run their violent course and are in the final death throes before decay commences just ahead of the autopsy. There's already a single tag attached to a single toe and we've got a white sheet. Not much left to do then.

Cause of death? Self inflicted wounds Verdict? Mis-adventure.

Edited December 18, 2010 by housepainter

[asiawatcher]

It is fair to say the Govt IS trying to reconcile and those so called 'leaders' presently incarcerated, have been given an olive branch. The arrogance of those refusing - who cares?

The arrest warrants - such as for Arisman (I thought there was still an active warrant from his previous flight form SC Park Hotel), are unlikely to make any difference. It will only stop them border crossing either back in or leaving. I doubt the BiB will chase them.

I think the next step for aid to the Red Shirt people should be policies that affect their living standards and that involves job creation and fair wages. I think the PM is on that but the dissolution of the house may stall the process but return a more unified cabinet and then there can be some changes but that requires less votes for red sympathies and give the man the chance to implement the structures to assist the lesser divide.

[Emptyset]

Personally, I'd like to see the leaders, not the 150 mis-guided souls who pocketed 500 baht a day as rent a mob, just the leaders, those trumped up self-inflated pompous knuckle draggers, quietly forgotten about and left to rot in prison under normal prison conditions. More rats than you can shake a stick at - or east in one sitting.

That is a Victor Bout diet and a cell with a TV. TransVestite.

At the same time there other leaders of this red shirted rabble who are on the run. I hope it's like a lemming.

A strong message needs to be sent out. Those in custody should be hammered under the law and maximum sentences delivered. Let the Government exert a bit of infuence of its own for a change. Most of those now incarcerated will have spent years buying their way out of a jail sentence. Now its time to serve one.

The same strong message sent to Thaksin, of make a mistake and we'll have you extradited, along with we're waiting to lock you up, should be sent to all of these mindless thug types who act above the law.

And as for Thida representing the red shirts ............. if anything would make them pack it in it's the thought of a beauracratic academic with a charisma by-pass leading them. Most of us think of following someone like Patton, Alexander or Montgonery into battle. Not Auntie Fanny. If its to be her peaceful way - and that's welcome - well, she's hardly the next Ghandi now is she?

I wonder if she's ever thought of shaving her head? Glasses might help.

If ever a group of non-entities, devoid of ideology or reason and incapable of public leadership or service existed, other than Hicks and Gillet who ruined Liverpool, then this is it.

They have run their violent course and are in the final death throes before decay commences just ahead of the autopsy. There's already a single tag attached to a single toe and we've got a white sheet. Not much left to do then.

Cause of death? Self inflicted wounds Verdict? Mis-adventure.

Well, fortunately you're not running things, things would quickly degenerate into civil war. Not only would people already furious about double standards be further inflamed but the shadowy figures pulling strings in the background would also be given further scope for chaos. Both sides are going to have to compromise.