A CNN news clip showing an explosion injuring policemen during deadly clashes between police and anti-government protesters at Phan Fah Bridge on Tuesday has sparked fierce debate over who threw the grenade.
Footage from CNN’s reportage on the antigovernment and police clash at Phan Fah Bridge which has triggered debate over who was responsible for a grenade attack which injured several police and protesters.
Some observers in the Democrat Party and the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) appeared to confuse this blast with BBC footage of another explosion.
CNN's clip, headlined "On the scene of protests in Bangkok", was uploaded on its website on Wednesday — the day after the clashes in which five people, including one riot policeman and four civilians were killed, and 71 injured.
Police were following an order from the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order (CMPO) to retake the bridge and Ratchadamnoen Nok Avenue from the Dhamma Army, an ally of the PDRC led by Suthep Thaugsuban.
The CNN cameraman captured a riot policeman on Phan Fah Bridge hurling an object at protesters' tents. The next shot featured thick black smoke from the blast with several police lying injured on the ground.
The editing of the clip made it unclear how much time had elapsed between the two shots.
CNN reporter Saima Mohsin did not say where the grenade was thrown from in her report.
She only said the footage showed how close CNN's cameraman and producer were to the explosion.
They were "caught in the midst of the seemingly harmless encounter that turned into a deadly confrontation", she said.
The PDRC and the Democrat Party claimed the CNN footage clearly showed the grenade was hurled at protesters by a policeman before it bounced back and exploded among the police.
They said CNN's footage tells a different story from footage captured by the BBC in a report by the British broadcaster's Bangkok-based correspondent Jonathan Head.
However, the BBC clip clearly shows footage of a different explosion.
The BBC clip showed a grenade was thrown at police lines from where the protesters were situated. The grenade hit a police shield prompting Pol Snr Sgt Maj Thiradet Lekphu to try and kick it away.
The police officer sustained severe leg injuries.
An Explosive Ordinance Disposal unit said the grenade in this blast was an M67 type.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Thiradet said the grenade was thrown from where protesters were.
Democrat Pary spokesman Chavanond Intarakomalyasut yesterday said CNN's footage showed one of the grenades which injured police was hurled at protesters, but bounced back.
He called on the CMPO to urgently address public concerns over the police's use of lethal weapons against protesters following the release of the CNN footage.
Metropolitan Police Bureau deputy chief Thitirat Nonghanpitak yesterday vehemently denied the allegation that police used grenades during the clashes on Tuesday.
Police used only teargas, rubber bullets, and non-lethal stun grenades, he said.
Commenting on the CNN footgate, Pol Maj Gen Thitirat said it did not prove the grenade bounced off a tent back to police lines as the PDRC claimed.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Human Rights Office Highly (OHCHR) yesterday issued a statement expressing "deep concern" about the violence that erupted between anti-government groups and the police at Phan Fah Bridge.
"Although all the details are not yet clear, it appears that a well-armed group associated with the anti-government protests quickly escalated the violence with the use of live ammunition. It also appears that police responded, shooting with live ammunition," the statement said.
"OHCHR calls on anti- and pro-government sides to disassociate themselves from armed groups, and refrain from any form of violence," it said.
"OHCHR calls on leaders of both sides and security forces to ensure the safety of those genuinely engaging in peaceful demonstrations, and to make sure that all sides strictly comply with the law," the statement continued.
Elsewhere, a group of PDRC supporters rallied outside the Provincial Police Region 2 headquarters in Chon Buri province to call for the ouster of Pol Lt Gen Kawee Supanant, commander of Provincial Police Region 2, and Pol Maj Gen Khatcha Thatsat, the Chon Buri police chief. Pol Lt Gen Kawee commanded the Phan Fah Bridge crackdown operation while Pol Maj Gen Khatcha was the deputy commander.