Third time lucky: Arisman makes Bt6 million bail
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The Criminal Court on Wednesday freed on bail red-shirt leader Arisman Pongruangrong, who surrendered earlier this month to face five terrorism-related charges in connection with the political conflicts in 2009 and 2010.
He was required to deposit Bt6 million worth of assets as a guarantee and was forbidden to be involved in any disturbances or to leave the kingdom.
His wife, Rapipan Pongruangrong welcomed the court’s decision, saying the release was a very precious gift for the family.
“Our family has been waiting for a long time for the chance to be together again,” Rapipan said.
This is Arisman’s third bail request since turning himself in on December 7 after being on the run for more than a year. The Court earlier rejected the requests as he could not sufficiently convince it that he would not flee again. It added that there was a court-issued arrest warrant for him in connection with separate defamation cases.
One of the red-shirt movement's militant leaders, Arisman had been at large after he managed to slip through police checkpoints in May last year, in the wake of riots by red-shirt protesters after their leaders ended a months-long anti-government rally abruptly. About 90 people were killed during the red shirts' rally, including protesters, passers-by and soldiers.
