BANGKOK (AFP) - Thailand has said it would drop all charges against 92 Muslims connected to a deadly protest two years ago, in a flurry of legal moves aimed at bringing peace to the insurgency-torn south.
In addition to dropping the charges against the protesters, the Office of the Attorney General also announced that murder charges would be filed next week over the death of Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit.
Both cases are often cited as key grievances against Bangkok in the mainly Muslim provinces of southern Thailand, where more than 1,500 people have been killed in nearly three years of unrest.
The Office of the Attorney General said Friday Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont's post-coup government hoped the decisions would help bring about national reconciliation.
The legal moves followed an apology Thursday by Surayud for the deaths of 85 Muslims killed when security forces broke up a protest in the southern border town of Tak Bai on October 25, 2004.
Of those killed, 78 were crushed to death when they were loaded horizontally into army trucks, in one of the bloodiest incidents in the insurgency.
No one from the security forces has been charged over the deaths, but 92 Muslim protesters were being prosecuted, while another 25 were still wanted in connection with the demonstration.
Charges and arrest warrants against all of them have been dropped, the attorney general's spokesman Athapol Yaisawang said, although three of them have since died.
"We came out with this decision after talks with government agencies. They all agreed that national reconciliation could be achieved if we dropped the charges," Athapol said.
Junta leader General Sonthi Boonyaratglin, who led the September 19 coup that ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, welcomed the decision.
"The southern unrest was mainly caused by the unfair treatment of local people. The attorney general's decision shows the government's serious intention to help them," he told reporters.
"Consequently, we expect a positive response to such a decision to help resolve the increasing violence in the south," he said.
In another politically charged case, Athapol said that murder charges would be filed next week against a group of suspects over the killing of Muslim lawyer Somchai.
"We have received evidence from the department of special investigations that proves that Somchai, who had been officially listed as missing, has died," Athapol said.
Somchai went missing in March 2004 while he was defending suspected Islamic militants who had accused authorities of torturing them while in custody.
Deposed premier Thaksin said in January that at least four government officials were involved in his murder, although his body has never been found.
One police officer was convicted of coercion and sentenced in January to three years in prison over the lawyer's disappearance, but four others were cleared of all charges.
Both cases had inflamed tensions in the Muslim-majority region on the border of Malaysia, which had been an independent sultanate that mainly Buddhist Thailand annexed in 1902.
Malaysia, whose relations with Thailand had been strained by the conflict during Thaksin's administration, praised Surayud's apology for the protesters' deaths.
"His step is a step in the right direction. It is an attitude of humility," Malaysia's Foreign Minister Syed Hamid Albar told reporters.
Although Surayud has promised to hold peace talks with militants, the government has admitted it is still uncertain who is behind the unrest.
The almost daily violence has been variously blamed on ethnic Malay separatists, Islamic extremists and criminal gangs.
Late Thursday, a 48-year-old Muslim man was shot dead by suspected Islamic militants in Narathiwat, one of three restive provinces, when he walked home from a mosque.
Thailand drops charges against Muslims over deadly protest
Warrants issued in Somchai case (Bangkok Post)
Suspects in the disappearance of Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit include those who were earlier acquitted, according to the Attorney General’s office spokesman, Attapol Sawangyai.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today approved the Attorney General’s request to issue arrest warrants against suspects in the disappearance of lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit.
Mr Attapol declined to state whether the list includes some of those who used to work at the government house.
According to Mr Attapol, the criminal court should approve the arrest warrants by Wednesday Nov 8.
Mr Somchai, chairman of the Muslim Lawyers Group and vice chairman of the Lawyers Council of Thailand's Human Rights Committee, was abducted on March 2004 by a group of police.
Council for National Security chairman Sonthi Boonyaratkalin revealed earlier this week that a close aide to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra might be behind the disappearance of the lawyer.
Suspects in the disappearance of Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit include those who were earlier acquitted, according to the Attorney General’s office spokesman, Attapol Sawangyai.
The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) today approved the Attorney General’s request to issue arrest warrants against suspects in the disappearance of lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit.
Mr Attapol declined to state whether the list includes some of those who used to work at the government house.
According to Mr Attapol, the criminal court should approve the arrest warrants by Wednesday Nov 8.
Mr Somchai, chairman of the Muslim Lawyers Group and vice chairman of the Lawyers Council of Thailand's Human Rights Committee, was abducted on March 2004 by a group of police.
Council for National Security chairman Sonthi Boonyaratkalin revealed earlier this week that a close aide to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra might be behind the disappearance of the lawyer.