Court to rule on PAD warrants tomorrow
The Criminal Court will tomorrow decide if arrest warrants should be issued against seven key members of the anti-Thaksin People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) for allegedly conspiring to overthrow the government and break the law under Article 116 of the Criminal Code.
The decision came after police earlier issued summonses to the seven who all failed to show up. The seven are coordinator Suriyasai Katasila, Senator-elect Rosana Tositrakul, slum activist Suwit Watnoo, labour leader Pien Yongnoo, former MP Chaiwat Sinsuwong, teacher Euaychai Watha and labour leader Sirichai Mai-ngam. The police's court petition against outgoing Buri Ram Senator Karun Sai-ngam was suspended due to immunity while the Senate is in session. The court yesterday allowed all seven to speak and all insisted they were not guilty of conspiring to overthrow the law or the democratic system with His Majesty the King as head of state. While details of the 77-page petition document submitted by Pol Maj-General Chatchawan Suksomjit are classified at present, the judges ordered a video recording of Rosana speaking during a PAD rally on March 5 to be played in order to check the accuracy of the petition. The video was said to show Rosana mentioning a possible tax revolt which could be interpreted as disregarding the law. Rosana was quick to tell the judges, however, that she was just floating the idea in order to see what the crowd thought. "[The police] action leads me to doubt whether what they're doing is in fact serving the politicians to prevent people from scrutinising the government," she said. Most of the seven told the court they were exercising their rights under Article 44 of the Constitution. Karun told The Nation that it was caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra who should be prosecuted. "We did nothing wrong but we end up having charges laid against us," he said.
Pravit Rojanaphruk The Nation
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