Woman takes part in an anti-government march 10/9/08 condemning police (Reuters/Chaiwat Subprasom). Buddhist monks wait for offerings outside the gates of Wat Bencha near Government House. Thai soldiers have helped maintain an uneasy calm in Bangkok but anti-government protestors have vowed to avenge those killed and injured in clashes this week with police.(AP Photo/David Longstreath)
Ambika Ahuja (AP)
BANGKOK, Thailand - A protest group seeking to unseat Thailand's government was buoyed Thursday by court rulings that ordered insurrection charges dropped against its leaders and called for the authorities to use "soft means" to quell demonstrations.
The court actions came after violent clashes Tuesday between police and protesters incited broad but not universal criticism of the government, blamed by much of the press and professional and academic groups for using unnecessary force.
The fighting left 423 protesters and 20 police injured, medical authorities said. One woman was killed, and a man died in what appeared to be a related incident. It was the worst political violence since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the ouster of a military-backed government.
The People's Alliance for Democracy, which is seeking to topple the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, continued to roar its defiance of the authorities and challenged them to a showdown. They accuse Somchai of being merely a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and misuse of power. Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law.
"It is the final war. We cannot lose. If we lose, the country will be gone," top protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul said from the grounds of the prime minister's office compound, which the protesters have occupied since Aug. 26.
A day later, arrest warrants were issued for the alliance's nine leaders.
Two were arrested and released Thursday. Seven other leaders gave themselves up to police investigators Friday and leader Chamlong Srimuang hoped they would soon be released on bail.
The Appeals Court on Thursday revoked three of the five charges on the warrants — insurrection, stockpiling of weapons and refusing to disperse. It said it would issue new warrants with the two remaining charges of inciting a public disturbance and illegal assembly, which carry prison terms of seven and three years respectively.
Protest leaders had said they were willing to fight all the charges except treason, which carries a possible death sentence, and which they deemed unjustified.
Sondhi said he and his colleagues would report to police and apply for bail on Friday.
The Criminal Court, meanwhile, granted the release of Chamlong and Chaiwat Sinsuwong who were detained over past week.
The court waived bail of $2,900 when a senator agreed to act as their guarantor.
Yet another court appeared to rule in favor of the protesters, issuing an order for the prime minister to "adhere to international standards" on crowd control measures following Tuesday's violence.
Both sides have accused the other of using excessive force in those clashes.
Police insist they only used tear gas and that some demonstrators may have been hurt by explosives they themselves were carrying, but AP reporters saw police using stun grenades.
Protesters said their gathering was peaceful, but many used iron rods, slingshots, firecrackers and bottles to attack police. An AP Television News reporter saw at least three protesters carrying guns.
The Administrative Court instructed authorities to "use soft means before using tough measures when they disperse protesters in the future." The temporary order will hold until the court rules on a lawsuit filed against the government by protesters and senators, charging that riot police used excessive force.
Chamlong said that the protesters were not daunted by the clashes.
"We are not scared of them. They would not dare hurt us again because that would be the end of their administration. If you (the government) want things to be over, you should come out to crack down on us right now and you would know the meaning of hell," he said.
The protest alliance claims Thailand's electoral system is susceptible to vote buying. It derides Thailand's rural majority — who gave landslide election victories to Thaksin and his allies — as too poorly educated to responsibly choose their representatives.
The alliance wants Thailand to abandon one-man, one-vote democracy, and instead have a mixed system in which some representatives are chosen by certain professions and social groups. They have not explained how exactly such a system would work or what would make it less susceptible to manipulation.
BANGKOK, Thailand - A protest group seeking to unseat Thailand's government was buoyed Thursday by court rulings that ordered insurrection charges dropped against its leaders and called for the authorities to use "soft means" to quell demonstrations.
The court actions came after violent clashes Tuesday between police and protesters incited broad but not universal criticism of the government, blamed by much of the press and professional and academic groups for using unnecessary force.
The fighting left 423 protesters and 20 police injured, medical authorities said. One woman was killed, and a man died in what appeared to be a related incident. It was the worst political violence since 1992, when the army killed dozens of pro-democracy demonstrators seeking the ouster of a military-backed government.
The People's Alliance for Democracy, which is seeking to topple the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat, continued to roar its defiance of the authorities and challenged them to a showdown. They accuse Somchai of being merely a proxy for former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup for alleged corruption and misuse of power. Somchai is Thaksin's brother-in-law.
"It is the final war. We cannot lose. If we lose, the country will be gone," top protest leader Sondhi Limthongkul said from the grounds of the prime minister's office compound, which the protesters have occupied since Aug. 26.
A day later, arrest warrants were issued for the alliance's nine leaders.
Two were arrested and released Thursday. Seven other leaders gave themselves up to police investigators Friday and leader Chamlong Srimuang hoped they would soon be released on bail.
The Appeals Court on Thursday revoked three of the five charges on the warrants — insurrection, stockpiling of weapons and refusing to disperse. It said it would issue new warrants with the two remaining charges of inciting a public disturbance and illegal assembly, which carry prison terms of seven and three years respectively.
Protest leaders had said they were willing to fight all the charges except treason, which carries a possible death sentence, and which they deemed unjustified.
Sondhi said he and his colleagues would report to police and apply for bail on Friday.
The Criminal Court, meanwhile, granted the release of Chamlong and Chaiwat Sinsuwong who were detained over past week.
The court waived bail of $2,900 when a senator agreed to act as their guarantor.
Yet another court appeared to rule in favor of the protesters, issuing an order for the prime minister to "adhere to international standards" on crowd control measures following Tuesday's violence.
Both sides have accused the other of using excessive force in those clashes.
Police insist they only used tear gas and that some demonstrators may have been hurt by explosives they themselves were carrying, but AP reporters saw police using stun grenades.
Protesters said their gathering was peaceful, but many used iron rods, slingshots, firecrackers and bottles to attack police. An AP Television News reporter saw at least three protesters carrying guns.
The Administrative Court instructed authorities to "use soft means before using tough measures when they disperse protesters in the future." The temporary order will hold until the court rules on a lawsuit filed against the government by protesters and senators, charging that riot police used excessive force.
Chamlong said that the protesters were not daunted by the clashes.
"We are not scared of them. They would not dare hurt us again because that would be the end of their administration. If you (the government) want things to be over, you should come out to crack down on us right now and you would know the meaning of hell," he said.
The protest alliance claims Thailand's electoral system is susceptible to vote buying. It derides Thailand's rural majority — who gave landslide election victories to Thaksin and his allies — as too poorly educated to responsibly choose their representatives.
The alliance wants Thailand to abandon one-man, one-vote democracy, and instead have a mixed system in which some representatives are chosen by certain professions and social groups. They have not explained how exactly such a system would work or what would make it less susceptible to manipulation.
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