PDRC moves to withdraw arrest warrants for 19 core leaders

[webfact]

PDRC moves to withdraw arrest warrants for 19 core leaders
By Digital Content

BANGKOK, March 19 – Revoking the emergency decree today will automatically nullify various charges against 19 anti-government core leaders, according to a People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) lawyer.

Thaworn Senneam, a key PDRC leader, said the movement's lawyers will petition the Criminal Court to withdraw charges against the 19 leading members.

The government earlier charged them with unlawfully gathering more than five people and issued arrest warrants for them.

PDRC spokesman Akanat Promphan said ending the state of emergency would not have any impact on the anti-government rally and the group will not adjust its political strategy.

Mr Akanat said he sympathised with the six independent agencies intending to mediate the political stalemate which were unfairly charged by pro-government groups for trying to remove the government.

The six independent agencies on Monday offered to set up a neutral committee to mediate the political conflicts and encouraged a dialogue between the caretaker government and the PDRC.

But both conflicting parties turned down the offer. (MCOT online news)


-- TNA 2014-03-19

[Chang_paarp]

The actions of these people at the time was deemed illegal. Why should they not have to front a court for their breach of those laws/regulations?

[jollyman]

its typical of the Thai mentality, no one follows the rules, each and every one makes up thier own rules. In a nut shell, the country is ungovernable, dooooomed

[Rob8891]

Nonsense and totally illogical move on the PDRC's part. They were deemed to be in breach of a law at that time, therefore, regardless of whether the SOE now exists or not, the charges are still relevant.

Why is it that no Thai politician ON EITHER SIDE has the balls to stand by their actions and face up to the laws? They (ALL COLOURS) should be setting a standard for the populace..sad they set that standard so low that it would slide under a lizard with room to spare.

[Tatsujin]

The actions of these people at the time was deemed illegal. Why should they not have to front a court for their breach of those laws/regulations?

The actions of Thaksin, Kitiporn, Jatuporn etc were all deemed illegal at the time too. Why should Thaksin not front a court for his actions instead of running this proxy government? Why does Jatuporn have his terrorism case still ongoing after 4 years? Why is Kitiporn still fronting for PT when he has been convicted and should be in jail right now?

I'd be curious to see some data on the % of people within PT/UDD who have actually been convicted of wrongdoing yet are still MP's and compare that to the opposition side. I know the opposition are not squeaky clean either, but the pro-Govt side of things are just taking the piss.

[Chang_paarp]

The actions of these people at the time was deemed illegal. Why should they not have to front a court for their breach of those laws/regulations?

The actions of Thaksin, Kitiporn, Jatuporn etc were all deemed illegal at the time too. Why should Thaksin not front a court for his actions instead of running this proxy government? Why does Jatuporn have his terrorism case still ongoing after 4 years? Why is Kitiporn still fronting for PT when he has been convicted and should be in jail right now?

I'd be curious to see some data on the % of people within PT/UDD who have actually been convicted of wrongdoing yet are still MP's and compare that to the opposition side. I know the opposition are not squeaky clean either, but the pro-Govt side of things are just taking the piss.

It is a simple case of "Do as I say not as I do".

None of these people are capable of facing up to any authority and accepting responsibility for their actions and words. This appears to be a Thai thing at all levels of society not just a red/yellow/blue/polka-dotted thing. The lack of leadership is astounding.

[Mango Bob]

Sounds like they want amnesty from crimes they committed during the SOE. When they did it, was against the law.

[Dogmatix]

I believe there is a legal point here. The charge of being part of a gathering of more than 5 people is a very minor one and the court may rule that arresting people for this is only justified while the SOE is in force to stop the assembly of more than 5 people. Once the SOE is finished the assembly is lawful and there is no need to try to stop it. The offence will be punishable by a small fine and it is not normal to arrest warrants for petty crimes. Defendants are normally just summoned to a police station to acknowledge charges.

[chooka]

So beating a man almost to death then binding him up and throwing him into a river to drown is ok now as the SOE has been lifted. Well that is one way to make attempted murder, kidnapping etc socially acceptable. Just don't do it during a SOE outside those times it is acceptable.

So I guess he will be calling for an amnesty for the reds and Yingluk also or is this only going to apply to one side.

Edited March 19, 2014 by chooka

[IBoldnewguy]

Mr Akanat said he sympathised with the six independent agencies intending to mediate the political stalemate "which were unfairly charged by pro-government groups for trying to remove the government."

Since they were trying to shut down (and to an extent did so) the government how could they be unfairly charged? Should they have been fairly charged?

I assume they have a legal right to critisize and protest against government policy... but to shut it down... without any sort of alternative plan ready and willing to govern... do they really want this Rush Limbaugh Suthep crew to take over? Do they really want the inmates to run the asylum (or are they already running it)...?

Do the Thais trust their neighbors enough that the neighbors won't see this weakness as an invitation for a Crimean style land grab? When the bickering is over they may wake up to find that they are no longer Thais but are now Burmese, Malaysian, Cambodian or even more possible Chinese. If China is annexing additional sea areas... why not a little more land? Not to mention it would be a good exercise for that military machine to the North. That's why goverments employ their military... to occasionally sent them out to earn their keep.

End of rant...

[Rob8891]

So beating a man almost to death then binding him up and throwing him into a river to drown is ok now as the SOE has been lifted. Well that is one way to make attempted murder, kidnapping etc socially acceptable. Just don't do it during a SOE outside those times it is acceptable.

So I guess he will be calling for an amnesty for the reds and Yingluk also or is this only going to apply to one side.

No, that's attempted murder, or at the very least detaining a person without authority / assault / GBH..... All of those should stand in any circumstances, and the SOE is irrelevant to such global offences. You're just stirring with that post! Good try!!

[fab4]

I believe there is a legal point here. The charge of being part of a gathering of more than 5 people is a very minor one and the court may rule that arresting people for this is only justified while the SOE is in force to stop the assembly of more than 5 people. Once the SOE is finished the assembly is lawful and there is no need to try to stop it. The offence will be punishable by a small fine and it is not normal to arrest warrants for petty crimes. Defendants are normally just summoned to a police station to acknowledge charges.

"The charge of being part of a gathering of more than 5 people is a very minor one"

It may well be in your eyes - but aren't you one of the voiciferous group on here who state that every crime should be punished, or was that only those committed by the PTP?

Any way, once again the report needs careful reading -

"Thaworn Senneam, a key PDRC leader, said the movement's lawyers will petition the Criminal Court to withdraw charges against the 19 leading members."

Amongst those charges are the much more serious charges of insurrection. The lawyers will should (depends on how the court judges are feeling that day) have a hard time justifying the dropping of those charges now the SOE has been rescinded.

When the Department of Special Investigation ordered that the 18 protest leaders' bank accounts be frozen in December after they were charged with insurrection, Suthep managed to raise a large sum of money in donations in marches in downtown Bangkok. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/PDRC-spending-more-than-Bt10-million-a-day-30224504.html

[chainarong]

<script type='text/javascript'>window.mod_pagespeed_start = Number(new Date());</script>

The actions of these people at the time was deemed illegal. Why should they not have to front a court for their breach of those laws/regulations?

The actions of Thaksin, Kitiporn, Jatuporn etc were all deemed illegal at the time too. Why should Thaksin not front a court for his actions instead of running this proxy government? Why does Jatuporn have his terrorism case still ongoing after 4 years? Why is Kitiporn still fronting for PT when he has been convicted and should be in jail right now?

I'd be curious to see some data on the % of people within PT/UDD who have actually been convicted of wrongdoing yet are still MP's and compare that to the opposition side. I know the opposition are not squeaky clean either, but the pro-Govt side of things are just taking the piss.

It is a simple case of "Do as I say not as I do".

None of these people are capable of facing up to any authority and accepting responsibility for their actions and words. This appears to be a Thai thing at all levels of society not just a red/yellow/blue/polka-dotted thing. The lack of leadership is astounding.

They have very good leaders and leadership skills, those that have stay away from the crap, who can blame them

[HonestQuietBob]

Next time there is an SOE there is going to be one hell of a crime spree.

Do as you please, hide out until the SOE ends then walk the streets a free man with all previous SOE crimes now null and void.

Simply awesome.

[Scamper]

Both Pheu Thai and the PDRC have sought out the opinions of the courts, although it must be noted that as an alleged caretaker administration they have had resources that the PDRC has not had access to -

- an emergency decree

- CMPO, headed by Chalerm

- DSI, headed by Tarit

- the police, headed also by Chalerm

- the former foreigner minister, also leads CAPO, Surapong

And yet, with all these resources, and " legal tactics of persuasion " Pheu Thai are much more likely to be at odds with the rulings of the court. Defying the Constitutional Court - before it even makes a ruling ! - shows a decided shift, however. And that's what makes this turn of events so especially dangerous.

[englishoak]

Next time there is an SOE there is going to be one hell of a crime spree.

Do as you please, hide out until the SOE ends then walk the streets a free man with all previous SOE crimes now null and void.

Simply awesome.

And that is the message it sends out....Stupid stupid stupid..... since SOE only ever lasts a short time what is the point of an SOE and laws connected to it if crimes committed breaking it are void once it ends..

If the courts do rule on the warrants being withdrawn then the courts are not fit for purpose at all. Which would not surprise me in the slightest I would put a 50/50 chance they will be granted the withdrawal my cynicism says a lot higher maybe 80/20 these clowns will have their wishes granted but i still slightly hopeful sanity still has some sway here at times.

[HonestQuietBob]

Both Pheu Thai and the PDRC have sought out the opinions of the courts, although it must be noted that as an alleged caretaker administration they have had resources that the PDRC has not had access to -

- an emergency decree

- CMPO, headed by Chalerm

- DSI, headed by Tarit

- the police, headed also by Chalerm

- the former foreigner minister, also leads CAPO, Surapong

And yet, with all these resources, and " legal tactics of persuasion " Pheu Thai are much more likely to be at odds with the rulings of the court. Defying the Constitutional Court - before it even makes a ruling ! - shows a decided shift, however. And that's what makes this turn of events so especially dangerous.

"Pheu Thai are much more likely to be at odds with the rulings of the court".

Geez, I wonder if the courts may, on occasion, be a tad unfair in their rulings.

[Dogmatix]

I believe there is a legal point here. The charge of being part of a gathering of more than 5 people is a very minor one and the court may rule that arresting people for this is only justified while the SOE is in force to stop the assembly of more than 5 people. Once the SOE is finished the assembly is lawful and there is no need to try to stop it. The offence will be punishable by a small fine and it is not normal to arrest warrants for petty crimes. Defendants are normally just summoned to a police station to acknowledge charges.

"The charge of being part of a gathering of more than 5 people is a very minor one"

It may well be in your eyes - but aren't you one of the voiciferous group on here who state that every crime should be punished, or was that only those committed by the PTP?

Any way, once again the report needs careful reading -

"Thaworn Senneam, a key PDRC leader, said the movement's lawyers will petition the Criminal Court to withdraw charges against the 19 leading members."

Amongst those charges are the much more serious charges of insurrection. The lawyers will should (depends on how the court judges are feeling that day) have a hard time justifying the dropping of those charges now the SOE has been rescinded.

When the Department of Special Investigation ordered that the 18 protest leaders' bank accounts be frozen in December after they were charged with insurrection, Suthep managed to raise a large sum of money in donations in marches in downtown Bangkok. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/PDRC-spending-more-than-Bt10-million-a-day-30224504.html

I am not saying they should not be punished according to the law. I am suggesting that they should be summoned to acknowledge charges and ultimately punished according to the law which will result in a fine of no more than B2,000. Arrest and detention pending trial is inappropriate for this once the crime of being part of an assembly of 5 or more people has ceased to exist.

If you remember, all the charges of unlawful assembly against the red shirts in 2010 were dropped after the SOE was lifted.

[ramrod711]

Next time there is an SOE there is going to be one hell of a crime spree.

Do as you please, hide out until the SOE ends then walk the streets a free man with all previous SOE crimes now null and void.

Simply awesome.

To be fair the PDRC can't take credit for this idea. PTP thought it was a great idea to grant amnesty for various and sundry charges for crimes spanning 10 years or more.

[SICHONSTEVE]

The actions of these people at the time was deemed illegal. Why should they not have to front a court for their breach of those laws/regulations?

Because "it was politically motivated" - I borrowed that one from a certain Khun T.

[crazykopite]

Thai lawyers seem to have their brains in another part of their body it shows you the standard of education in Thailand when those who are meant to be influential lack very basic knowledge of Thai Law I would be very surprised if any of these so called lawyers even made it as a lawyers clerk in the Western world.

[TheReporter]

I have never seen any justice system in the world that is so heavily used to intimidate people. For example, arrest warrants were issued against many people, but no arrest was made against anyone. In most cases, most of the arrest warrants simple were quashed later by the same court that issued them or simply forgotten the justice system as a whole. Even when indictments are rendered, there is never really any trial that follows. This only goes to prove that the justice system is being used as a tool to intimidate, rather than to really seek justice for the wrong-doings of people. The same is true for the police. They can make any arrest they want, but only few case are sent to court for trials, as most of them are being negotiated (more like paid off) out of court. Needless to say this practice totally undermines the authority and purpose of the justice system in the country. Thus, people have little or not respect for it.

[binjalin]

the yellows attempted coup is failing fast... wait then arrest them all for seeking to overthrow the elected government

hope more companies like PTT Plc. will SUE the PDRC 'leaders' into the ground for business disruption - bankrupt them all - 37m is a good start

Edited March 19, 2014 by binjalin

[Siripon]

the yellows attempted coup is failing fast... wait then arrest them all for seeking to overthrow the elected government

hope more companies like PTT Plc. will SUE the PDRC 'leaders' into the ground for business disruption - bankrupt them all - 37m is a good start

Bankruptcy holds no fears for Suthep, all he has to do is walk down Silom road and people will compete to hand him 500 and 1000 baht notes.

[rubl]

the yellows attempted coup is failing fast... wait then arrest them all for seeking to overthrow the elected government

hope more companies like PTT Plc. will SUE the PDRC 'leaders' into the ground for business disruption - bankrupt them all - 37m is a good start

"attempted coup"? Did I miss something?

[fab4]

I believe there is a legal point here. The charge of being part of a gathering of more than 5 people is a very minor one and the court may rule that arresting people for this is only justified while the SOE is in force to stop the assembly of more than 5 people. Once the SOE is finished the assembly is lawful and there is no need to try to stop it. The offence will be punishable by a small fine and it is not normal to arrest warrants for petty crimes. Defendants are normally just summoned to a police station to acknowledge charges.

"The charge of being part of a gathering of more than 5 people is a very minor one"

It may well be in your eyes - but aren't you one of the voiciferous group on here who state that every crime should be punished, or was that only those committed by the PTP?

Any way, once again the report needs careful reading -

"Thaworn Senneam, a key PDRC leader, said the movement's lawyers will petition the Criminal Court to withdraw charges against the 19 leading members."

Amongst those charges are the much more serious charges of insurrection. The lawyers will should (depends on how the court judges are feeling that day) have a hard time justifying the dropping of those charges now the SOE has been rescinded.

When the Department of Special Investigation ordered that the 18 protest leaders' bank accounts be frozen in December after they were charged with insurrection, Suthep managed to raise a large sum of money in donations in marches in downtown Bangkok. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/PDRC-spending-more-than-Bt10-million-a-day-30224504.html

I am not saying they should not be punished according to the law. I am suggesting that they should be summoned to acknowledge charges and ultimately punished according to the law which will result in a fine of no more than B2,000. Arrest and detention pending trial is inappropriate for this once the crime of being part of an assembly of 5 or more people has ceased to exist.

If you remember, all the charges of unlawful assembly against the red shirts in 2010 were dropped after the SOE was lifted.

So you completely ignore the insurrection charges. The assembly of 5 or more is a red herring. The pdrc lawyers are trying to get all charges removed.

[rubl]

Both Pheu Thai and the PDRC have sought out the opinions of the courts, although it must be noted that as an alleged caretaker administration they have had resources that the PDRC has not had access to -

- an emergency decree

- CMPO, headed by Chalerm

- DSI, headed by Tarit

- the police, headed also by Chalerm

- the former foreigner minister, also leads CAPO, Surapong

And yet, with all these resources, and " legal tactics of persuasion " Pheu Thai are much more likely to be at odds with the rulings of the court. Defying the Constitutional Court - before it even makes a ruling ! - shows a decided shift, however. And that's what makes this turn of events so especially dangerous.

"Pheu Thai are much more likely to be at odds with the rulings of the court".

Geez, I wonder if the courts may, on occasion, be a tad unfair in their rulings.

The Pheu Thai MP's and members in the caretaker government frequently say to accept rulings. It's only those outside government functions who complain.

[rubl]

"The charge of being part of a gathering of more than 5 people is a very minor one"

It may well be in your eyes - but aren't you one of the voiciferous group on here who state that every crime should be punished, or was that only those committed by the PTP?

Any way, once again the report needs careful reading -

"Thaworn Senneam, a key PDRC leader, said the movement's lawyers will petition the Criminal Court to withdraw charges against the 19 leading members."

Amongst those charges are the much more serious charges of insurrection. The lawyers will should (depends on how the court judges are feeling that day) have a hard time justifying the dropping of those charges now the SOE has been rescinded.

When the Department of Special Investigation ordered that the 18 protest leaders' bank accounts be frozen in December after they were charged with insurrection, Suthep managed to raise a large sum of money in donations in marches in downtown Bangkok. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/PDRC-spending-more-than-Bt10-million-a-day-30224504.html

I am not saying they should not be punished according to the law. I am suggesting that they should be summoned to acknowledge charges and ultimately punished according to the law which will result in a fine of no more than B2,000. Arrest and detention pending trial is inappropriate for this once the crime of being part of an assembly of 5 or more people has ceased to exist.

If you remember, all the charges of unlawful assembly against the red shirts in 2010 were dropped after the SOE was lifted.

So you completely ignore the insurrection charges. The assembly of 5 or more is a red herring. The pdrc lawyers are trying to get all charges removed.

So you completely ignore that the government which undemocratically tried to push through a blanket amnesty bill which even covered said governments first two years in office, daemonised the anti-government protests from the very start and called them rebels and guilty of insurrection and whatever just to get rid of them?

[binjalin]

the yellows attempted coup is failing fast... wait then arrest them all for seeking to overthrow the elected government

hope more companies like PTT Plc. will SUE the PDRC 'leaders' into the ground for business disruption - bankrupt them all - 37m is a good start

Bankruptcy holds no fears for Suthep, all he has to do is walk down Silom road and people will compete to hand him 500 and 1000 baht notes.

that's great he'll need 37,000 of them for the first case hoping more to follow from businesses who have lost so much in this failed charade masking itself as a 'people's movement'

of course most of the small business vendors who have been destroyed do not have the resources to sue this megalomaniac but hopefully more will follow PPT Plc.

[binjalin]

the yellows attempted coup is failing fast... wait then arrest them all for seeking to overthrow the elected government

hope more companies like PTT Plc. will SUE the PDRC 'leaders' into the ground for business disruption - bankrupt them all - 37m is a good start

"attempted coup"? Did I miss something?

now, now dear rubl you know that PDRC tried to overthrow a democratically elected government by the following means (my 'Top Ten'):

• persuading their 'friends' in the Un-Dem party not to contest elections
• blocking polling stations
• kidnapping government spokesperson
• blocking highways
• taking over government buildings
• harassing people shopping with whistles
• calling for a Thai family to be ejected from their native country
• 'encouraging' the un-biased judiciary to dissolve parliament
• lie to the people that "it would all be over" on bla bla bla date
• taking over Lumpini when the demo numbers dropped dramatically and lied to say they were 'helping' businesses by relocating - even the ducks in the duck pond think they are "quackers" lol

need I go on? hope not (you'll be pleased to hear) but an 'attempted coup" it was