7 Red Shirts Get Jail Terms For Emergency Decree Violation, Theft

[webfact]

7 Red Shirts get jail terms for emergency decree violation, theft

BANGKOK, Dec 1 – A Thai court on Thursday sentenced six Red Shirt supporters to six months each in jail for violating the 2010 State of Emergency decree, while another protester received a three-and-a-half year jail term for theft from CentralWorld department store during the group's demonstration against the Abhisit Vejjajiva government in May last year.

The South Bangkok Criminal Court read its verdict after prosecutors filed charges against seven members of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) for illegally gathering at Ratchaprasong intersection, breaking into the CentralWorld shopping complex and taking 18 items from the mall on May 19, 2010.

According to the prosecutor's complaint, the defendants possessed guns and ammunition, and resisted police attempts to arrest them.

The seven defendants confessed to the charge of emergency decree violation but pled not guilty on other charges.

The court however ruled that there were insufficient grounds indicating that six of the defendants stole the items from the department store or threatened the security officials. But it said the six persons were found guilty of violating the state of emergency and gave each of them one year in jail.

The jail term was reduced to six months as the six persons pled guilty.

One defendant, identified as Komsan Sudchanham, 42, was sentenced to three years and six months in jail for theft as stolen items were found with him during his arrest.

All but one of the defendants were freed as they had already been detained for over six months.

The Democrat-led coalition government imposed the state of emergency in April and May last year to maintain law and order as the Red Shirt protests against the government turned violent with sporadic deadly clashes between protesters and security forces.

At least 91 persons, including demonstrators, army personnel, civilians and reporters were killed during the clashes.

The 10-week protest against the Abhisit government ended on May 19 when troops sealed off the Ratchaprasong area where the protesters had encamped for weeks and the Red Shirt leaders surrendered to police. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2011-12-01

[webfact]

Six Sentenced to Jail in Red-shirt Unrest Case

Bangkok's South Criminal Court has handed down a six-month prison sentence to six red-shirt defendants for violating the Emergency Decree but dropped the charges of arson and looting of the Central World shopping mall during last year's unrest.

Bangkok's South Criminal Court has handed down a six-month prison sentence to each of the six red-shirt defendants charged with robbery, resisting arrest, looting and arson at the Central World shopping mall in Bangkok during last year's unrest on May 19.

The defendants were also charged with illegal possession of firearms and violation of the Emergency Decree for organizing unlawful assembly of three or more people and obstruction of justice.

The court dropped most charges even though the defendants were arrested at the crime scene because the prosecutor has failed to produce evidence showing that they have committed the crimes as accused.

Also, no stolen items were found on them except for some cellphone batteries and a mobile phone recovered from one of the defendants who was a security guard of the shopping mall.

The court has also ruled that there is no evidence showing that the M-60 ammunition found at the scene actually belonged to the defendants.

However, they were still found guilty of violating the Emergency Decree and sentenced to a one-year jail term.

The sentence was commuted to six months because they pleaded guilty.

Meanwhile, the security guard was handed down three years and six months in jail sentence for theft. Other charges against him were dismissed.

-- Tan Network 2011-12-01

[lannarebirth]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

[philw]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Yeah, agree with you.

But on topic, it's amazing that with all the witnesses, 30,000 troops in the immediate area, loads of cctv, hundreds of cops, loads of journos, private security guards, men with whistles etc etc etc.........

No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted.

Funny that.

Different story in the city hall incidents around the country, many quite proper convictions.

Events in BKK seem to be a somewhat different story.

[KRS1]

Any coincidence only red shirts are getting arrested these days?

[phiphidon]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Well thats just it isn't it. The prosecution alleged they had firearms just as you have. Luckily they didn't have to be judged by you but by a court instead. They were found guilty of violating the emergency decree and not guilty of any other charges. No possession of guns or ammunition, no resisting arrest. End of Story.

[OzMick]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Yeah, agree with you.

But on topic, it's amazing that with all the witnesses, 30,000 troops in the immediate area, loads of cctv, hundreds of cops, loads of journos, private security guards, men with whistles etc etc etc.........

No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted.

Funny that.

Different story in the city hall incidents around the country, many quite proper convictions.

Events in BKK seem to be a somewhat different story.

So when they were told to burn down city halls,it happened, they did it, and it's a fair cop.

But when they were told to burn Central World, it happened, but it's a somewhat different story.

And if you ask a redshirt, he will tell you "we did nothing wrong."

[lannarebirth]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Well thats just it isn't it. The prosecution alleged they had firearms just as you have. Luckily they didn't have to be judged by you but by a court instead. They were found guilty of violating the emergency decree and not guilty of any other charges. No possession of guns or ammunition, no resisting arrest. End of Story.

Yeah, you're right. I read they had firearms, but it was not proven.

[OzMick]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Yeah, agree with you.

But on topic, it's amazing that with all the witnesses, 30,000 troops in the immediate area, loads of cctv, hundreds of cops, loads of journos, private security guards, men with whistles etc etc etc.........

No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted.

Funny that.

Different story in the city hall incidents around the country, many quite proper convictions.

Events in BKK seem to be a somewhat different story.

"No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted."

Short term memory loss? Here's 2 for starters:

"The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) announced on Friday night that it has arrested an ex-policeman and another suspect who allegedly confessed that they were hired to attack the Temple of the Emerald Buddha with RPG rockets.

DSI chief Tharit Pengdit said former Pol Lance Corporal Bandit Sitthitum, 43, and Supanat Ui-yawet, 43, were paid 500,000 baht by Pol Lt Col Supachai Tuikaewkam, whose wife, Juriporn Sintuprai, is a red-shirt leader from Pattaya.

The incident took place on March 30, and it was understood at the time that the target of the planned attack was the Defence Ministry, a short distance from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Bandit and his accomplice allegedly fired the RPG rocket from a side street across a small canal at the back of the Ministry's building, but the attack failed after the rocket got caught in power lines and fell short.

Mr Tharit claimed Pol Lance Corporal Bandit had confessed that the real target of the planned attack was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in order to create panic and chaos because the temple is a national symbol revered by all Thais."

[phiphidon]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Yeah, agree with you.

But on topic, it's amazing that with all the witnesses, 30,000 troops in the immediate area, loads of cctv, hundreds of cops, loads of journos, private security guards, men with whistles etc etc etc.........

No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted.

Funny that.

Different story in the city hall incidents around the country, many quite proper convictions.

Events in BKK seem to be a somewhat different story.

So when they were told to burn down city halls,it happened, they did it, and it's a fair cop.

But when they were told to burn Central World, it happened, but it's a somewhat different story.

And if you ask a redshirt, he will tell you "we did nothing wrong."

How is that trial against the "Redshirts" alleged to have been involved with the burning down of Central World going - Haven't heard anything since the main prosecution witnesses proved less than useful?

Confusing testimony from security guard in CentralWorld fire case - http://www.nationmul...l-30161805.html

Officer relied on a blurred image to make arrest over CentralWorld fire - http://www.nationmul...o-30161891.html

Guard in arson case 'signed police statement without reading it' - http://www.nationmul...u-30164098.html

"Another prosecution witness yesterday was Sataporn Paothong, an underwriter with Thai Setakij Insurance. Sataporn told the court that Central Pattana, the owner of CentralWorld, had a Bt3.5-billion policy for terrorism attacks and that it would cover if the courts can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the fire was an act of terrorism."................................Worth reading what he had to say next in the last paragraph of the second link.

Anybody heard anything?

[phiphidon]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Yeah, agree with you.

But on topic, it's amazing that with all the witnesses, 30,000 troops in the immediate area, loads of cctv, hundreds of cops, loads of journos, private security guards, men with whistles etc etc etc.........

No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted.

Funny that.

Different story in the city hall incidents around the country, many quite proper convictions.

Events in BKK seem to be a somewhat different story.

"No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted."

Short term memory loss? Here's 2 for starters:

"The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) announced on Friday night that it has arrested an ex-policeman and another suspect who allegedly confessed that they were hired to attack the Temple of the Emerald Buddha with RPG rockets.

DSI chief Tharit Pengdit said former Pol Lance Corporal Bandit Sitthitum, 43, and Supanat Ui-yawet, 43, were paid 500,000 baht by Pol Lt Col Supachai Tuikaewkam, whose wife, Juriporn Sintuprai, is a red-shirt leader from Pattaya.

The incident took place on March 30, and it was understood at the time that the target of the planned attack was the Defence Ministry, a short distance from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Bandit and his accomplice allegedly fired the RPG rocket from a side street across a small canal at the back of the Ministry's building, but the attack failed after the rocket got caught in power lines and fell short.

Mr Tharit claimed Pol Lance Corporal Bandit had confessed that the real target of the planned attack was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in order to create panic and chaos because the temple is a national symbol revered by all Thais."

Perhaps he should have written "arrested and convicted" Arrests are easy, there's plenty of proof of that in the Thai prisons. Convictions, i.e proof not allegations, well that's a different story. I believe Seh Daengs right hand man was found guilty of having unlicensed pistols in his possession. Probably a fair few "violation of the Emergency Decree"s floating about but otherwise?

[hellodolly]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Well thats just it isn't it. The prosecution alleged they had firearms just as you have. Luckily they didn't have to be judged by you but by a court instead. They were found guilty of violating the emergency decree and not guilty of any other charges. No possession of guns or ammunition, no resisting arrest. End of Story.

Don't be so naive.

Any idiot knows that just because you are not found guilty it does not mean you are not guilty.

Nitwits like you run around saying the red shirts were innocent of killing civilians and invading hospitals because they were not found guilty. Enough money passed hands to make it so.

[hellodolly]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Yeah, agree with you.

But on topic, it's amazing that with all the witnesses, 30,000 troops in the immediate area, loads of cctv, hundreds of cops, loads of journos, private security guards, men with whistles etc etc etc.........

No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted.

Funny that.

Different story in the city hall incidents around the country, many quite proper convictions.

Events in BKK seem to be a somewhat different story.

So when they were told to burn down city halls,it happened, they did it, and it's a fair cop.

But when they were told to burn Central World, it happened, but it's a somewhat different story.

And if you ask a redshirt, he will tell you "we did nothing wrong."

How is that trial against the "Redshirts" alleged to have been involved with the burning down of Central World going - Haven't heard anything since the main prosecution witnesses proved less than useful?

Confusing testimony from security guard in CentralWorld fire case - http://www.nationmul...l-30161805.html

Officer relied on a blurred image to make arrest over CentralWorld fire - http://www.nationmul...o-30161891.html

Guard in arson case 'signed police statement without reading it' - http://www.nationmul...u-30164098.html

"Another prosecution witness yesterday was Sataporn Paothong, an underwriter with Thai Setakij Insurance. Sataporn told the court that Central Pattana, the owner of CentralWorld, had a Bt3.5-billion policy for terrorism attacks and that it would cover if the courts can prove beyond reasonable doubt that the fire was an act of terrorism."................................Worth reading what he had to say next in the last paragraph of the second link.

Anybody heard anything?

Amazing what money can buy. I heard that it wasn't all coming from Dubai.

Is that what you wanted to hear?

[phiphidon]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Well thats just it isn't it. The prosecution alleged they had firearms just as you have. Luckily they didn't have to be judged by you but by a court instead. They were found guilty of violating the emergency decree and not guilty of any other charges. No possession of guns or ammunition, no resisting arrest. End of Story.

Don't be so naive.

Any idiot knows that just because you are not found guilty it does not mean you are not guilty.

Nitwits like you run around saying the red shirts were innocent of killing civilians and invading hospitals because they were not found guilty. Enough money passed hands to make it so.

That's your viewpoint, but I thought the Justice System was the very best - well it appeared to have been as we were constantly told when the democrats were in power - the judges are still the same...................

I'll ignore the childish insult.

[phiphidon]

Amazing what money can buy. I heard that it wasn't all coming from Dubai.

Is that what you wanted to hear?

See my remark about Thai Judges in response to your other reply.

What I want to hear is the truth, not some trumped up rubbish putting two peoples lives on the line based on a ludicrous prosecution "case".

There is great pressure to bear on this case because unless somebody is found guilty of a terrorist act when burning down Central World and associated buildings, somebody somewhere is not going to get their insurance money.

[philw]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Yeah, agree with you.

But on topic, it's amazing that with all the witnesses, 30,000 troops in the immediate area, loads of cctv, hundreds of cops, loads of journos, private security guards, men with whistles etc etc etc.........

No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted.

Funny that.

Different story in the city hall incidents around the country, many quite proper convictions.

Events in BKK seem to be a somewhat different story.

"No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted."

Short term memory loss? Here's 2 for starters:

"The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) announced on Friday night that it has arrested an ex-policeman and another suspect who allegedly confessed that they were hired to attack the Temple of the Emerald Buddha with RPG rockets.

DSI chief Tharit Pengdit said former Pol Lance Corporal Bandit Sitthitum, 43, and Supanat Ui-yawet, 43, were paid 500,000 baht by Pol Lt Col Supachai Tuikaewkam, whose wife, Juriporn Sintuprai, is a red-shirt leader from Pattaya.

The incident took place on March 30, and it was understood at the time that the target of the planned attack was the Defence Ministry, a short distance from the Temple of the Emerald Buddha.

Bandit and his accomplice allegedly fired the RPG rocket from a side street across a small canal at the back of the Ministry's building, but the attack failed after the rocket got caught in power lines and fell short.

Mr Tharit claimed Pol Lance Corporal Bandit had confessed that the real target of the planned attack was the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in order to create panic and chaos because the temple is a national symbol revered by all Thais."

Nearly right.

But it's not Central World, is it...........

It's also several weeks premature and an entirely diifferent incident.

Any comment on the lack of progress regarding the main event, as it were ???

[philw]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Well thats just it isn't it. The prosecution alleged they had firearms just as you have. Luckily they didn't have to be judged by you but by a court instead. They were found guilty of violating the emergency decree and not guilty of any other charges. No possession of guns or ammunition, no resisting arrest. End of Story.

Don't be so naive.

Any idiot knows that just because you are not found guilty it does not mean you are not guilty.

Nitwits like you run around saying the red shirts were innocent of killing civilians and invading hospitals because they were not found guilty. Enough money passed hands to make it so.

So like wise, being found guilty is also meaningless...................

Maybe the "nitwits" have a point, dolly.

Baah

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Burn down a major shopping mall, and much else around BKK, and the justice system can't seem to clearly nail the culprits....

But dare to steal anything from that same mall, and it's off to jail with a 3+ year sentence... Justice sure and swift...

Kind of makes one wonder about this place.

[philw]

Burn down a major shopping mall, and much else around BKK, and the justice system can't seem to clearly nail the culprits....

But dare to steal anything from that same mall, and it's off to jail with a 3+ year sentence... Justice sure and swift...

Kind of makes one wonder about this place.

That is exactly the point.

[rubl]

Lucky for them they had conventional firearms and not a BB for texting.

Yeah, agree with you.

But on topic, it's amazing that with all the witnesses, 30,000 troops in the immediate area, loads of cctv, hundreds of cops, loads of journos, private security guards, men with whistles etc etc etc.........

No blackshirts, arsonists or run of the mill armed terrorists have been arrested or convicted.

Funny that.

Different story in the city hall incidents around the country, many quite proper convictions.

Events in BKK seem to be a somewhat different story.

Although some indicate up to 35,000 troops involved in the last few days of the May, 2010 crackdown, it's very unlikely they were in the 'immediate area'. In order to move, deploy, or (even) attack you need space to manoeuvre. Densely packed troops cannot be effective.

CCTV's were mostly covered, turned-of or simply destroyed by red-shirts valuing their privacy. Journo's were getting more reluctant to get involved or staying near the army troops like vanderGrift foolishly did. Etc., etc., etc.

Anyway I'm not sure why this would be deemed on topic, dear philw ?

(edit: add: the 'men in black' are in another topic, identified as one of his, by Pol.Capt. Chalerm)

Edited December 13, 2011 by rubl

[metisdead]

Off topic posts have been removed.

[nurofiend]

Any coincidence only red shirts are getting arrested these days?

what do you mean?

[sparebox2]

Any coincidence only red shirts are getting arrested these days?

what do you mean?

They are arrested for their crimes, not the color of their shirts.

[Gary A]

Shopping malls spend big baht on fire protection and prevention and had sprinkler systems installed. Had the sprinkler systems worked, the loss would have been quite small. Why didn't the systems work?

It was because the authorities turned off the water supply. Not much said about that, is there?

[whybother]

Shopping malls spend big baht on fire protection and prevention and had sprinkler systems installed. Had the sprinkler systems worked, the loss would have been quite small. Why didn't the systems work?

It was because the authorities turned off the water supply. Not much said about that, is there?

Sure. It's not the fault of the people that lit the fire that it wasn't put out.

[nurofiend]

Any coincidence only red shirts are getting arrested these days?

what do you mean?

They are arrested for their crimes, not the color of their shirts.

so you're saying this current government is actually making more of an effort to hold both sides accountable for crimes than the previous government, with their lack of holding anyone accountable besides red shirts - ie everyone except themselves and the army?