On the anniversary of Abhisit’s crackdown I

As the anniversary of the Abhisit Vejjajiva regime’s army-led crackdown on red shirts draws closer, the Department of Special Investigation has released more news on its investigations of the deaths, obviously trying to pre-empt further criticism as red shirts mark the anniversary.

DSI’s Tharit Pengdit now says that the state authorities “may be responsible for the deaths of at least 25 people…”. Yes, most sensible people know this remains an underestimate, but it is the highest estimate DSI has had to date, with 22 cases having previously been sent to the Metropolitan Police Bureau, and “some” cases having been “submitted to the courts.” Apparently it was the MPB that “recently asked the DSI to hand over another three cases for investigation…”.

The DSI states that it “also found that at least 12 people died as a result of the actions of members of the red shirt United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD),” but ptovides no details on any case. It states that another 52 deaths were inconclusive when investigated.

Tharit “said little evidence was left after the political violence, even though many UDD members had provided information on the incidents to the DSI.” Is that a criticism of the military “cleaning” evidence? Is it that the authorities under Abhisit were prevented from collecting evidence? Or both?

The DSI chief is also, remarkably, calling on “Robert Amsterdam, a lawyer for ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra who claimed he had crucial evidence relating to the 89 deaths in Bangkok, to pass details to the DSI.”

Meanwhile, Elisabetta Polenghi is told that the MPB “had concluded that the death [of Fabio, her journalist brother] resulted from the actions of government officials.”

For tomorrow’s anniversary, some 1200 police will be deployed to the Rajaprasong intersection and nearby.