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The two-member panel in the post-mortem inquest concluded that Army and police officials had acted according to the law, used sound judgement and done their best given the circumstances.

Of the 85 victims, 78 died from suffocation after security officials stacked them on top of each other in the back of military trucks.

Judge Yingyut Tanor-Rachin, who sat with judge Jutarath Santisevee, said the officials had had compelling reasons to transport more than 1,000 detained demonstrators from the protest site to the Ingkhayuthaborihan Army camp in Pattani.

Reading out the ruling in a packed courtroom at the Songkhla Provincial Court, Yingyut said a quick decision had needed to be taken because of security concerns. He pointed to the fact that the demonstration site had been on the Malaysian border and not far from the Taksin Ratchanivej Palace.

On October 25, 2004, more than 1,500 people demonstrated in front of the Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat demanding the release of six village defence volunteers whom the police had accused of collaborating with insurgents by giving them government-issued shotguns.

The police never came up with evidence to support their claims and refused to give in to the demands of the protesters.

After the demonstrators had gathered in front of the police station and clamoured against officialdom for several hours, police, soldiers and rangers moved in and fired tear gas at them. Live ammunition and blank rounds were fired into the crowd, killing seven.

Nearly 1,300 men were then separated from the women and ordered to lie face down on the ground, where many of them were seen being beaten and kicked by security officials before being forced into the back of military trucks.

The National Human Rights Commission said those detained had been beaten with batons, kicked and punched, some whilst lying on the ground with their hands tied behind their backs.

The incident left a big scar in the Malay-speaking South and drove a wedge between the restive region and the predominantly Buddhist state.

It has since been a point of political tension and drawn comment from prime ministers, including Samak Sundaravej, who once attributed the protesters' deaths to the fact that they had been fasting during Ramadan.

During his term in office, Surayud Chulanont apologised to the victims' families for the Tak Bai massacre and other "atrocities committed by the state" against the Malays of Patani.

Family members of the victims appeared shocked at yesterday's verdict and expressed sadness at what they viewed as obviously unfair treatment by government security officials.