Prosecutors yesterday laid multiple charges against 22 men over a raid on a Bangkok school during university admission tests, in a bid to seek harsh punishments against them.
Kosolwat Anthujanyong, deputy spokesman for the Office of the Attorney-General, said yesterday that prosecutors had indicted Montri Poonsap and 21 other accomplices at the Thon Buri Criminal Court on Thursday.
In the lawsuit, the prosecutors opposed bail for all defendants and called on the court to impose the harshest punishments on them.
The defendants are facing 11 charges for conducting the raid on Mathayomwatsing School in Bang Khuntian area of Chom Thong district, Bangkok, on Feb 24.
The charges include illegal assembly, trespassing and damaging government property, physical assault, intimidation, sexually harassing a girl younger than 15 years old and consuming alcohol on temple premises.
"The defendants' actions show they have no respect for the rule of law. They raided the school to attack students and teachers during the university admission examinations," Mr Kosolwat told the media at a briefing.
The altercation erupted after a teacher asked the defendants to turn their loudspeakers off to avoid disturbing exam takers at Bangkok's Mathayomwatsing School.
The request upset the raiders, who had been participating in an ordination ceremony at Wat Sing, a nearby temple, at the time.
They decided to hurl physical and verbal assaults at the students while they were taking their exams. Twelve people were injured during the raid, including the director of the school, teachers, staff and some students.
Mathayomwatsing, which is adjacent to Wat Sing temple, was running a General Aptitude Test and Professional and Academic Aptitude Test when the scuffle broke out.