Court rejects petition in Tak Bai case

The Criminal Court on Monday rejected a petition filed by relatives of people who died in the 2004 Tak Bai crackdown to it to revoke the Songkhla Provincial Court's ruling which cleared security forces of any wrongdoing in their handling of those held in custody.

Rassada Manurassada, a lawyer from the Lawyers Council of Thailand representating the relatives, said the rejection was made on the ground that the case had never been filed with the Criminal Court.  The court stated that if the relatives of the killed wanted to petition against the order, they must do so with the Songkhla Provincial Court, not the Criminal Court.

Mr Rassada said the relatives will follow the court's order.

The relatives of the 78 people killed in Oct 25, 2004 incident in front of the Tak Bai police station filed the petition with the Criminal Court on Ratchadapisek road on Monday morning because they were not satisfied with the Songkhla Provincial Court's ruling, which cleared security forces of any wrongdoing and determined the victims had died from suffocation.  The court also ruled that members of the military were just carrying out their duty and could not be blamed for what happened.

Somchai Homla-or, president of the Campaign for Human Rights, said video footages and accounts from eyewitnesses clearly said the 78 victims were among 1,292 people who had their hands tied to their backs and were piled one on top of each other in army trucks which took them to Ingkayuthaboriharn army camp in Pattani.  They were found dead on arrival at the camp after about 12 hours.

"We will continue to fight for justice," said Mr Somchai.