Those who witnessed deaths during the red-shirt protests in May and come forward to testify with the Department of Special Investigation will be given legal immunity and exemption from criminal prosecution as well as personal protection as needed, DSI director-general Tharit Phengdit said yesterday.
As part of the investigation into deaths during the protests, the DSI is obtaining documents on the deployment of troops and an inventory of weapons used by the military. It is also seeking information from the Democratic Alliance against Dictatorship (DAAD), which organised the protests, and the Pheu Thai Party, which has ties to DAAD.
The DSI also welcomes those with insider knowledge to come forward or give their accounts via the 1202 hotline. Media footage and personal videos will also be used as evidence in the investigation of 12 incidents during the two-month-long protest that led to 89 deaths.
The DSI investigation should be completed within a 45-day time frame.
As for a parallel DSI investigation into lese majeste cases, the accused people will not be summoned for questioning until an ongoing questioning session with government investigators and officials from the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (CRES), who lodged the complaints, is completed.
Meanwhile, the Truth and Reconciliation Committee (TRC) yesterday gave an orientation to the "Truth Seeking" committee it had set up to compile evidence in the May protests. The 30-strong panel comprises 30 members tasked with gathering facts and evidence from various incidents in a two-year period.
The TRC also welcomes text details or visual and audio materials of the incidents through trc@oja.go.th; Lak Si PO Box 56 Bangkok 10210; (02) 143 8353; or in person at the TRC office on ninth floor of the government centre off Chaeng Watthana Road. TRC will publish its first report by mid-January.