PM asked to remove Tarit as DSI chief

PM asked to remove Tarit as DSI chief

Relatives of people killed in political violence in 2010 on Tuesday submitted a letter to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra asking her to remove Tarit Pengdith as director-general of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI).

They were led by Payao Akkahad, the mother of Kamolked, a volunteer nurse and one of six people shot dead in the grounds of Wat Pathumwanaram on May 19, 2010, during the clearance of protesters from Ratchaprasong intersection.

PM's deputy secretary for political affairs Suporn Atthawong received the letter on the prime minister's behalf.

Mrs Payao said the relatives want Mr Tarit transferred out of the job because he was a member of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) responsible for the military crackdown during the April-May 2010 violence, and under his leadership the investigations into the deaths of protesters had proceeded very slowly.

This might result in cases facing problems in the future, she said.

The relatives of the dead want the government to set up a committee with members from various agencies to speed up the investigations and quickly propose legal action against those responsible for ordering the various  crackdowns.

Mrs Payao said they also wanted the prime minister to announce publicly that she would not support any reconciliation or amnesty bills which would also absolve those who ordered the killings.

Mr Suporn said he would pass the letter to the prime minister as soon as possible.  He asked the relatives of the victims of violence not to rally in front of the Government House.  If they had a complaint, they should submit it to him directly.

Pansak Srithep, the father of Samapan Srithep who was killed in the violence, said the relatives had an idea to draft an amnesty bill of their own.

The draft would seek to clear protesters of all political affiliations of wrongdoing, but not those who gave the orders to kill.

He said that in drafting the bill the group would seek legal advice from academics in the Nitirat Group of lecturers.

Red-shirt MPs of the Pheu Thai Party would be asked to rally support for the bill from other MPs so that it could be submitted to the parliament before the opening of the next ordinary session in August.

The "people's bill" could then be deliberated in the House of Representatives along with other amnesty bills, Mr Pansak said.

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