Witnesses too scared to talk of Lahu slaying

[rooster59]

Witnesses too scared to talk of Lahu slaying

By NISANART KANGWALWONG
THE SUNDAY NATION

 

File photo: NHRC commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit

 

THE NATIONAL Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team visiting Chiang Dao district in the far North to probe the extrajudicial killing of young Lahu activist Chaiyapoom Pasae will ask to see all evidence, especially the closed-circuit TV recording, which authorities claim shows Chaiyapoom resisting officers who stopped him at a checkpoint, plus autopsy results.

 

The rights agency, which set up a subcommittee, led by NHRC member Chatchay Suttiklom, to probe whether the soldier used excessive force, has the right to see all the case evidence, commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit said yesterday.

 

Meanwhile, Pha Muang Task Force told a press conference yesterday that there was an attempt to use a weapon to obstruct officers in Chaiyapoom’s case and a police-prosecutor committee had been assigned to probe this case, so the public should wait for clear results.

 

Angkhana yesterday took a man who was Chaiyapoom’s mentor to Na Wai police station to file a report about receiving a threat. The mentor (whose name has been withheld) told the NHRC he found a bullet in front of his house on Wednesday night, after he spoke out in defence of the young activist. He said two men, who did not identify themselves, had showed up earlier at his house to tell him to stop talking about Chaiyapoom. 

Other witnesses were too scared to even talk to members of the rights body team yesterday.

 

Mathayom 4 student Chaiyapoom was killed at an Army checkpoint on March 17. Soldiers claim that 2,800 methamphetamine tablets were found in his car following the shooting. 

 

Earlier there were pictures, leaked by a Facebook page opposing the Single Gateway Internet control idea, that showed Chaiyapoom cooperating with the soldiers’ search. The pictures seem to contradict the claim that the Lahu teenager resisted the soldiers. They have claimed he pulled out a knife and then threatened to throw a hand grenade before he was shot “in self-defence” by a soldier.

 

Meanwhile, Pha Muang Task Force commander Maj-General Jiradech Kamolphetch told the press in Chiang Mai that the incident stemmed from the officers performing their duties. He also affirmed that the force and related agencies would ensure justice to all sides.

 

Jiradech said that Chiang Dao had a narcotic outbreak with constant movements from a neighbouring country [to smuggle in drugs]. So, soldiers had to protect the border area and try to fight threats such as drug trafficking. As drug suspects often fought officials with heavy weapons such as grenades, which have previously injured officers, Jiradech insisted that there was a bid to use a weapon to obstruct officers in Chaiyapoom’s case. He said authorities were probing the CCTV records.

 

Soldiers who manned the checkpoint at the time had not been transferred, he said, and were doing normal shifts.

 

The committee of police and public prosecutors would probe the alleged drug possession, the alleged obstruction to officers involved, and the extrajudicial killing as well as the autopsy, Jiradech said. He urged anyone with evidence to submit it to police to ensure justice for all sides. 

 

Army deputy spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree yesterday dismissed reports of a witness to the killing being threatened as untrue, saying officers have been taking care of the witness who had been co-operative and provided useful information. He urged all sides to wait for justice and warned that anything revealed to the media could be libellous.

 

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/national/30310296

 

 

-- © Copyright The Nation 2017-03-26

[Oziex1]

We are in control and we have guns.

 

Is there anything else that needs to be said? 

[yellowboat]

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

He urged all sides to wait for justice and warned that anything revealed to the media could be libellous.

Or the truth. 

6 hours ago, rooster59 said:

He said two men, who did not identify themselves, had showed up earlier at his house to tell him to stop talking about Chaiyapoom. 

Other witnesses were too scared to even talk to members of the rights body team yesterday.

 

Looks as though the ordinary Thai needs a CCTV system to protect himself from bad people of all sorts.  Funny that those who threaten hate to have their picture taken. 

 

Feel for the witnesses.  Being too scared to do the right thing is a difficult form of regret. 

[jollyhangmon]

Yep ^^, big surprise again here ... 

[Godang]

Obvious who is in the wrong. Next will be the cctv recordings go missing. 

[hobobo]

The mentor (whose name has been withheld) told the NHRC he found a bullet in front of his house

 

The next one will be in your skull! You have been warned!

[YetAnother]

expect nothing, get less; we need these refreshers (not that we have to like them)

[sandemara]

Gosh! A soldier within arm's length of a "suspect" - a 17-year-old student, how dangerous is that? - - apparently lacks the professional training and skills to subdue his young victim in a controlled fashion. Even surrounded by several other soldiers the student apparently presented some threat and at least one soldier escort decided the boy needed to be handled more efficiently. Incapacitating him with a minor wound is the "professional" military solution?

No, despite aiming for the boy's arm the military ammunition blasts through a vital spot, causing sudden death to the boy.

How can Thai citizenry (whom the military professes to protect) continue to trust its military authorities to look out for their best interests when there's a demonstrably high risk of being killed (accidentally or by design - who cares?) if you  have to suffer contact with "security" troops?

Do citizens ever wonder for whose benefit the country is run, and why an oppressed/threatened populace pays taxes to perpetuate the power of non-elected authorities and the "professional" security forces that do their bidding?