The Thai police have arrested a niece of a soldier who was tortured to death in Deep Southern Thailand after the authorities accused her of defaming the military.
Three Police officers from Makkasan Police Station, Bangkok, on Tuesday morning, 26 July 2016, arrested Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat, a niece of Wichian Puaksom, a military conscript who was tortured to death by other soldiers in 2011.
She was arrested from her workplace in Bangkok and is currently in custody at Makkasan Police Station.
The police will take her to Narathiwat Police Station for interrogation.
According to the arrest warrant issued by the Provincial Court of the Deep Southern province of Narathiwat, the police accused Naritsarawan of defaming the Thai military and breaking the Computer Crime Act for posting information about the torture of her late uncle in February 2016.
Naritsarawan told Prachatai that she did not receive any summon order from the authorities before the arrest.
In June 2011, Wichian, then a 26-year-old conscript in the Deep South province of Narathiwat, died after an alleged brutal torture by about 10 soldiers.
An investigation by the 4th Army Region found that Wichian was severely tortured by other soldiers and his superiors after he was accused of running away from military training. The Army report said that a number of soldiers at the request of Sub Lt Om Malaihom on 1 June 2011 stripped Wichian down to his underwear and dragged him over a rough cement surface before repeatedly kicking him with military boots and beating him for several hours.
The report added that the soldiers applied salt to the wounds of the torture victim to increase the pain and wrapped his entire body with a white sheet, tying his hands together as for a corpse and reading the funeral rites, before engaging in another round of beating.
After suing the Ministry of Defence, the Royal Thai Army and the Prime Minister's Office for malfeasance, Wichian’s family was given 7 million baht in compensation for their loss. However, up to now, none of the accused soldiers have been officially prosecuted for criminal offences.
Naritsarawan Kaewnopparat