Yala Provincial Court has handed a jail sentence to a leader and member of a militant group that caused widespread damage in the southernmost provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat.
An Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) source yesterday said that Muelee Hama, one of the major leaders of PuloG5, was caught with eight associates in Yala's Raman district on July 8.
Authorities seized pentolite, sodium chlorate and potassium nitrate compounds for creating an improvised explosive device (IED), a rocket-propelled grenade (RPG), 20 modified rocket pipelines, over 50 bomb detonators, 12 illegal telecommunication devices and more than 400 IED materials.
The militant group was funded by two fugitives who remain in hiding in Sweden. The group led by Muelee learnt how to assemble an IED in a neighbouring country.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) filed a lawsuit against the defendants on charges including collusion in gathering weapons and assets for training insurgents, illegal activities, the exporting, distribution and transfer of explosive objects and possession of illegal telecommunication devices.
In the court hearing on Nov 25, Muelee and his associates were sentenced to 35 years and six months in jail.
Each was fined 5,000 baht, while one of the defendants, Waearyu Waetayeh, was sentenced to 37 years and six months in jail and ordered to pay a fine of 205,000 baht due to the additional charge of possessing methamphetamines.
Due to their confessions, the sentences were commuted to 17 years and nine months in jail and a fine of 2,500 baht, while Waearyu's sentence was also reduced to 18 years and 9 months in jail and a fine of 102,500 baht.
The seized items were kept at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission, the source said.