The first post-mortem inquest into the deaths of 16 people during the red-shirt anti-government protest began on Monday afternoon, almost two years after the deadly crackdown on protesters.
The Ratchada Criminal Court opened the inquest into the death of Channarong Polsrila in Black Case No. Or Chor 1/2012, filed by the Bangkok Prosecutor as required by Section 150 of the Criminal Procedure Code.
The provision requires that the court hears evidence and decides on the identity of the deceased, the place of death, the cause and the circumstances, and whether the death was caused by an action of a particular person as Mr Channarong was killed during a red-shirt clash with military officers.
Channarong was shot in the stomach and right arm by high-velocity weapons on May 15, 2010 near a petrol station at Soi Rangnam. He was pronounced dead on the way to hospital.
Early last year, the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) concluded that of the 92 people who died as a result of the the crackdown, 13 might have been killed by security officials.
The pro-red-shirt Yingluck government has put investigation files into police hands and inquest procedures have been accelerated with three more cases from the Wat Pathumawanaram shootings being included.
It took two hours for the Court to announce the next date of the inquest. The initial hearing was watched by about 70 red-shirt supporters, including the chair of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, Tida Tawornseth, and Deputy Transport Minister Chat Kuldiloke, three army officers and a representative of the Truth for Reconciliation Commission.
The petitioner (the prosecutor) asked to have 41 witnesses examined, and the deceased’s relatives have asked for 15 witnesses to be examined. Seven hearings have been scheduled for every Monday beginning June 18 till the end of July. More hearings might be held later if needed, the court said.
On June 18, two German journalists, Bangkok-based Nick Nostitz and Thilo Thielke from "Der Spiegel", will testify before the court after Suriyant Polsrila, the deceased's wife, takes the stand as the first witness.
The court has asked the petitioner to submit by March 31 copies of documents and CDs relating to the trial so that lawyers of the deceased's relatives can study them before the hearings.
The court said the next hearings were scheduled at a later date according the time available to both sides .
Mrs Suriyant told the Bangkok Post that she was glad the long-waiting inquest will finally begin.
She was at the court with her two teenaged daughters. "Of course I hope the court will deliver justice," she said, adding she has also registered for reparations from the government.
Another three inquest cases have been scheduled for March 19, April 23 and May 28 at the Ratchada Court. The inquest into the death of a Japanese cameraman has yet to be scheduled at the Southern Bangkok Criminal Court.
Compared to inquests into victims of the southern violence, the cases relating to the Bangkok political violence have taken a long time to get under way. Narathiwat Iman Yapa Gasem was pronounced dead in the custody of the military in March 2008 and the verdict confirming the military was responsible was announced just three days before the end of that year.
The inquest into the death of Sulaiman Nasae of Pattani in military custody began a year after in April 2010 and the process will finish this month.