Police free 13 Islamic instructors
Police yesterday released all but one of the remaining 14 Islamic religious teachers held for the past two weeks under emergency decree following a meeting in Satun province regarded as suspicious by the authorities.
It was not clear if the decision to release the 13 teachers, or ustads, came after a group of Muslim lawyers petitioned a Yala court this week to seek their release on the grounds of insufficient evidence. The remaining ustad was identified as Chaihidan Boonyang, a resident of Satun province who teaches part time at the Thammawitthaya School in Yala. He was being questioned further, said a lawyer familiar with the issue who refused to named. He said lawyers in the region had planned to step up their low-key campaign for the release of the last remaining ustads. A total of 19 teachers and their boat-operator were detained under the Emergency Law two weeks ago. Police became suspicious after the teachers, all of whom taught at the Thammawitthaya School, had gathered on a small island just off the coast of Satun. One of the 19 detained ustads said he was angry at being held for two weeks without charges but felt helpless as he did not know where to turn. "My detention was only a few days, but I kept thinking of all the fellow ustads who had been held in detention for years and in faraway places," said one teacher on condition of anonymity. "My family members come to see me every day, but what about those who are locked away and forgotten?" he added.
The Nation Yala
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