Aug 11, 2010
BANGKOK — Thai prosecutors said Wednesday they would indict 19 leaders and supporters of the anti-government "Red Shirt" movement on terrorism charges in connection with recent political unrest.
They include three key protest leaders -- Red Shirt chairman Veera Musikapong, opposition lawmaker Jatuporn Prompan and Kokaew Pikulthong, who stood as an opposition candidate in a recent Bangkok by-election.
The suspects have already been arrested and charged and many have been held in detention for almost three months.
"Evidence from investigators shows that there are sufficient grounds to indict the suspects on terrorism charges," the Office of Attorney General said in a statement.
The Red Shirts' lawyer, Karom Poltaklang, said he was confident the suspects would be proven innocent.
Prosecutors have not yet announced whether they will indict fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who faces an arrest warrant for terrorism but lives in self-imposed exile overseas.
Two months of protests by the Red Shirts, aimed at forcing immediate elections, triggered a series of clashes between demonstrators and troops that left at least 90 people dead -- mostly civilians -- and nearly 1,900 injured.
Most top Red Shirts surrendered to police after the army launched a deadly assault on the movement's fortified encampment in the heart of Bangkok on May 19.
Some others are in hiding, including Arisman Pongruangrong, who led the storming of an Asian summit in the Thai resort of Pattaya in 2009.
After the May crackdown, Reds leaders asked their thousands of supporters to disperse, but enraged protesters went on a rampage of arson, setting fire to dozens of buildings, including a shopping mall and the stock exchange.
Thailand's Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by Thaksin and his family against the seizure of 1.4 billion dollars of their assets in February for abuse of power.
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