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Thai military court issues arrest warrant for prominent Red Shirt spokesman
Agence France Presse - June 30, 2014
Jakrapob Penkair, a former minister and prominent member of the "Red Shirt" movement affiliated with the government ousted by the military in May, has rejected the accusation.
The warrant comes after the launch of an opposition alliance to counter the junta. The Organisation of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy (FT-HD), based in an as yet undisclosed Western country, is vowing to push for the restoration of democratic rule as efforts to oppose the regime within Thailand are repressed.
Deputy national police chief, Somyot Poompanmoung, has confirmed the issue of the arrest warrant. "The military court Friday night issued arrest warrants for four people, including Jakrapob, for links with war weapons seized in Thailand during the past month," he said.
The country's military rulers have justified their takeover as a necessary move in order to restore peace after months of often-violent protests between pro- and anti- government factions. In the lead up to the May 22 coup they warned they would crack down on armed groups.
Jakrapob, who was once spokesman for the government of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra – deposed in a previous coup in 2006 – firmly rejects the allegations against him.
"There is simply no evidence whatsoever to connect me to the junta's seizure of arms and I would challenge them to produce such evidence," he said in a statement Saturday.
"I have no involvement in any kind of 'armed' struggle. "I believe fully in a political, social and cultural struggle secured in reality by the democratic will of the Thai people."
During a Sunday press conference at the army headquarters in Bangkok, Thai authorities displayed rifles, grenades and bullet-proof vests collected in raids.
In a statement, the country's Peace and Order Maintaining Task Force said a total of 1,996 guns, 31,840 rounds of ammunition and 256 explosive devices were seized between May 22 and June 25 in operations which also led to the arrest of 38 people.
According to junta spokesman Werachon Sukondhapatipak, most of the arms seized were handed in by people in the central northeast provinces after a military call for illegal weapons. "The weapons have been linked with plans to instigate violence in northeast Thailand, particularly in the city of Khon Kaen," he said.
The Thai coup follows years of political divisions between supporters of billionaire Thaksin, who lives in self-exile in Dubai to avoid jail for a corruption conviction, and a royalist establishment backed by parts of the military and judiciary.
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