Police do not have evidence to link a group of arrested online government critics to Panthongtae Shinawatra, the son of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a deputy national police chief said Wednesday.
Pol Gen Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul said that although the arrested suspects mentioned Mr Panthongtae was a supporter, police had not found any substantial evidence to prove it. Therefore, police would not issue a summons or seek an arrest warrant for Mr Panthongtae.
The suspects also referred to red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan and government critic Sombat Boon-ngamanong in a similar vein. But Pol Gen Srivara said there was insufficient evidence to take any action against them.
The eight suspects were arrested last week and charged with inciting public unrest and committing computer crime for their Facebook posts that authorities considered as having potential to instigate chaos.
The online messages allegedly criticised Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha and the junta. They were detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison.