Red-Shirt Fugitive Adisorn Returns

[webfact]

Red-shirt fugitive returns

By The Nation

Published on March 11, 2011

Ex-MP Adisorn says he was hiding in Bangkok and Northeast; Chief of security guards will surrender today, but no news yet on leaders like Arisman, Paijit

Former MP Adisorn Piengket yesterday led a parade of red-shirt fugitives ready to surrender to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to face terrorism charges over the uprising in May last year.

Aree Krainara, chief of the red-shirt movement's security guards, has also contacted the DSI and will turn himself in today, bringing many security guards with him, a DSI official said.

Many red leaders charged with the same crime, including crooner Arisman Pongruangrong, artist Visa Kanthap, singer Paijit Aksornarong and former national human rights commissioner Jaran Ditthaapichai are still on the run.

They disappeared after the military cracked down on the red-shirt protest in April and May last year, leaving 91 people dead, including security officers and foreign journalists. Authorities have provided no clear answer as to who was responsible for the shooting deaths.

Denies all charges

Adisorn denied all charges, saying he pulled out of the protest on May 11, before it erupted from May 19-20.

He told reporters he had decided to surrender because he believed the country was now heading for reconciliation. He urged other fugitive red-shirt leaders to give themselves up, saying they could not hole up forever.

"I believe reconciliation is possible. Politics is about thoughts and beliefs. After the October 6, 1976 incident, some student activists fled to join communist insurgents in the jungle. But when they came back, they could settle their differences with the authorities. This is Thailand's special characteristic," he said.

Adisorn, a high-flying figure of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai Party, said he had taken refuge in Bangkok and the Northeast. He denied reports that he skipped over the border, while admitting that he had considered escaping to Vietnam at one point.

"I could have gone underground in Bangkok for a decade, if I wanted," he said.

"I haven't done anything wrong, but I didn't surrender earlier because nobody wants to spend nine months behind bars for nothing.

"I asked my detained friends, and they advised me to stay away because life in jail is miserable. So I spent the last nine months writing songs, and will soon be releasing an album called 'Be Strong, Red Flowers'."

As for joining the red-shirt rally scheduled for tomorrow, Adisorn said he preferred to keep quiet until the tension eased.

"I came here afraid of how I would be treated, but they [the DSI staff] treated me well. In fact, the chief even asked about my health," he said.

Accompanied by former commerce minister Watthana Muangsuk, Adisorn met with DSI director-general Tharit Pengdit before booking March 28 to continue testifying to the DSI.

The DSI allowed Adisorn to go free on Bt600,000 bail under the same conditions as the seven red-shirt leaders recently released - he must not leave the country and not incite unrest. However, participating in peaceful demonstrations is not prohibited.

Adisorn later went to the Crime Suppression Division to acknowledge defamation charges filed by former prime minister Chuan Leekpai, but was granted bail for this case also.

-- The Nation 2011-03-11

[mkawish]

Boy oh.... boy....

Wishing the demo.... the very best....

for assisting and vouching for the reds.... to be released from custody....

[MegaRanter]

Now, if all the big boys would tone down unnecessary inflammatory rhetoric and not constantly piss each other off all the time, their followers will all see the futility of trying to have the last word.

Life is too short to have have one's pulse racing all the time.

[asiawatcher]

I would incarcerate them as there is no way any 'charged' alleged terrorist deserves bail.

[Macmundi]

Just like eels.. so slippery, and when they come back with the gift of gab, they manage to get away with everything. Wonder if their songs are just as poisionous to thailand as their politics. That goes especially to Arisman, the sissy.