Treason charges too harsh for PAD leaders: senators

"Protesters do not have sufficient arms and strength to change the administrative regime and overthorw democracy," senator Tuang Anthachai said.

Tuang said his fellow senators were worrying about the confrontation between the government and the PAD which might degenerate into violence.

The senators were also doubting whether the Tuesday's raid at NBT station was a frame-up, he said.

Senator Rosana Tositrakul said 80 per cent of protesters inside Government House were women and children who participated in the rally at their free will.

Rosana called on authorities to avoid using force against peaceful protesters.

She said from her own experience as a former activist, police often exaggerated the charges filed against protesters. She said she once successful sought the judicial intervention to order police to reduce the charges.

Senator Somchai Sawaengkan said although he condemned the NBT station raid as a gross violation of media freedom, he had doubts about the incident.

Many news clips about the raid looked like the event had been staged to expose the protesters and not the police, he said. The authorities failed to release the complete footage on what the police were doing during the raid, he added.