Abhisit and Suthep deny

A report at Khaosod tells its readers that former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is “not worried” by murder charges, while his former deputy and security chief Suthep Thaugsuban hammed it up and took political potshots at Thaksin Shinawatra while acknowledging the murder case against him.

Abhisit and Suthep were required to front at the offices of the Attorney-General “to acknowledge the criminal charges” that have been brought against them for their roles in the violent crushing of red shirt protests in 2010.

The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has charged Abhisit and Suthep with “conspiring to cause other individuals to commit murders.” The other individuals are presumably the Army, which has so far gotten away with murdering citizens many, many times.

Abhisit and Suthep “oversaw the crackdown of the Redshirts protesters who occupied parts of Bangkok to call for fresh election. CRES [Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situations] authorized use of live ammunition in many of these operations, which concluded on 19 May 2010.” The DSI charge that the pair should be held responsible for at least two deaths “as the soldiers were operating under orders of CRES.”

Suthep “claimed that DSI has no legitimacy to pursue their charges, and added that he already filed challenge legal against the DSI.” He also “complained that the charges are unfair, voicing his fear that any death or injury in the April-May 2010 violence would be attributed to the doing of him and Mr. Abhisit.”

Ignoring the lack of relativity and getting legal procedures out of order, the comedic Suthep declared: “We won′t flee the country and instigate any chaotic protest to help us…”. Tell that to the Democrat Party’s yellow-shirted and now white-masked allies. As usual, Suthep babbled about his extraordinary laws at the time “to save the people from ‘terrorism’ and arson attacks on the capital city…”.

In a related report at The Nation, it is said that “[p]ublic prosecutors have set August 26 to announce a decision on whether … Abhisit Vejjajiva and his former deputy Suthep … will be indicted for murder over the death of protesters during the 2010 riots.” The Nation has a penchant for the term “riot” when describing the protests.

The DSI has apparently “handed over nine boxes with 11,242 documents as evidence and files to prosecutors.”

Abhisit and Suthep assert that the “DSI did not have authority to conduct the probe because the suspects were state officials.” They want the National Anti-Corruption Commission to take over the case, presumably betting on impunity if this were to happen.