BANGKOK: The firebrand leader of street protests which preceded Thailand’s latest coup appeared in court yesterday to deny a murder charge over a bloody crackdown on opposition “Red Shirt” supporters four years ago.
Suthep Thaugsuban was deputy prime minister of the then ruling Democrat Party during the 2010 crackdown, which left more than 90 people dead and hundreds more wounded in the heart of Bangkok.
“There were deaths and injuries caused by live bullets during the crackdown ordered by the defendant,” a judge, whose name was withheld by the criminal court, said reading out the charge.
“I deny it,” Suthep said, sporting a shaven head and the orange robes of a Buddhist monk after a stint in the clergy earlier this month. Many Thai men enter monkhood at some time during their lives in the overwhelmingly Buddhist nation.
Suthep has kept a relatively low profile since the Thai junta banned political activities.
Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva, premier during the crackdown, appeared alongside his former deputy in court but remained silent. He has already denied a murder charge.
The judge ordered the pair to return on August 28 for the next hearing in their joint trial.
AFP
