The criminal court postponed the deposition hearing of the ‘Men in Black’ suspects, who are allegedly involved in the violence during the military crackdown on redshirts on 10 April 2010 due to the lack of evidences on terrorism charge and disagreement between the public prosecutor and the Department of Special Investigation, who is overseeing the investigation of the case.
The criminal court on Monday postponed the deposition hearing of ‘Men in Black’ suspects, the five alleged militants participating in the political violence on 10 April 2010 on Rajdamnoen avenue, Bangkok.
The prosecutors found that the evidence to file terrorism charges against the five is insufficient despite the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) case file, which presses charge on terrorism against the five.
The five earlier indicted the suspects with offences of possession of unauthorized and illegal weapons of war, such as M79 grenade launchers, M16s, HK33s and explosive devices. The DSI’s director will have an authority to finalise if the terrorism charge will still be filed against the five or not.
Four male 'Men in Black' suspects in Bangkok Remand Prison
The court scheduled the new deposition hearing on 23 March 2015.
The five suspects are:
- Kittisak Soomsri, 45, a Bangkok native
- Preecha Yooyen, 24, from northern Chiang Mai Province
- Ronnarit Suricha, 33, from northeastern Ubon Ratchathani Province
- Chamnan Pakeechai, 45, from Bangkok
- Punika Chusri, 39, from Bangkok
At the press conference on 11 September, a few days after their arrests, the five confessed that they were the ‘men in black’. However, roughly a month later, they recanted their confessions and alleged that they were tortured to confess while under detention by the military.
The five have remained under custody since September last year.
Winyat Chatmontree, a lawyer from Free Thai Legal Aid (FTLA) who represents the suspects, on Monday said that the bail requests of the five were not submitted because the suspects’ families did not find sufficient financial resources.
In December, the lawyer for the five also requested bail for, Punika Chusri, the only female suspect who was not involved in the case, but was merely accused of sitting in the same vehicle as the four other defendants during the incident. However, the court declined the bail request citing flight risk despite the fact that she was not arrested, but voluntarily reported to the police in early September.
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‘Men in black’ suspects from April 2010 violence deny all charges