The Udon Thani Provincial Court agreed on Thursday to release four jailed red shirts on bail of 2.5 million baht each while their sentences are heard on appeal, the Lawyers' Association of Thailand said.
Photo by Post Today
The court granted bail to Arthit Saithong, Kittipong Chaikung, Decha Komkham and Buarian Pangsa, who were incarcerated in Laksi prison in Bangkok on charges of violating the emergency decree and torching the provincial hall and municipal office during the May 2010 riots. Their jail sentences vary from 11 to 22 years.
The bail requests were filed by association president Narinpong Jinapak.
Mr Narinpong said seven witnesses were brought to testify before the Appeals Court in support of his applications for bail. They were Udon Thani police chief Pol Maj Gen Boonlua Korbangyarng, Pol Col Kowit Chareonwattanasak, chief of Muang Udon Thani police station, a representative of the director-general of the Rights and Liberties Protection Department, a local politician who is the mother of one of the detainees and three red shirt political prisoners who were earlier released by a court in Mukdahan.
The court heard testimony for three hours before approving bail. The witnesses successfully convinced the court that each detainee would not jump bail, Mr Naringpong said, adding that the 22 red-shirt prisoners in Mukdahan who have been released on bail had not escaped either.