The Criminal Court yesterday dismissed a lawsuit filed against Lt Gen Manas Paorik, former deputy commander of the 3rd Army Region and another defendant who were alleged to have illegally possessed military-grade weapons.
The ruling favoured Lt Gen Manas, 73, and Wattana Sapwichien, 59, who were accused by prosecutors of participating in a criminal organisation and possessing war weapons without permission.
According to their lawyer, Chokchai Angkaew, the court ruled in favour of the defendants as it decided the evidence was too weak to support the accusation against them.
The accusation involving a criminal organisation was also dismissed, Mr Chokchai said.
Lt Gen Manas was among 13 suspects wanted by the Crime Suppression Division (CSD). Arrest warrants were issued by the Saraburi military court in 2014.
His name cropped up when key suspects were hauled in by troops as they confiscated caches of war weapons in Ayutthaya's Wang Noi district, Lop Buri's Muang district and Samut Sakhon's Krathum Baen district at the time.
Lt Gen Manas, a close aide to deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was accused of being behind the "men in black", or the hooded gunmen who battled army troops during the red-shirt protests.
Among the other suspects, former PM's Office minister Jakrapob Penkair, who remains at large, is believed to have provided funds to help the organisation procure war weapons to battle the People's Democratic Reform Committee in Bangkok and nearby provinces. The weapons included M16 assault rifles with ammunition, TNT and C-4 explosives.
But Lt Gen Manas denied having anything to do with the so-called "men in black".
He also denied knowing Mr Jakrapob well, saying he had only spoken to him once when he was the PM's Office minister.