Abhisit ready to answer summons on red-shirt crakdown
Opposition leader and former premier Abhisit Vejjajiva said he is prepared to meet the police and other related agencies to answer questions related to the 91 deaths during the April-May 2010 military crackdown on red shirts.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) said the investigation into the 91 deaths should be completed by the end of this year.
Abhisit said yesterday that he has yet to be formally summoned by police or the NACC, adding he does not want the matter to be unduly prolonged as well.
Asked by reporters whether he was worried, Abhisit, who was then the prime minister, replied that he was not worried at all as what he had done in 2010 was under the law and constitution. He said he had tried his best to ensure the least casualties among civilians but insisted the red-shirt protesters were armed. There are a lot of details, said Abhisit, adding that he is ready to explain it all.
Meanwhile, the NACC assured yesterday that if any state officials acted unduly they would face justice and the commission will be fair to both parties to the conflict. Both Abhisit and then deputy premier Suthep Thaugsuban are expected to be summoned and more forensic details will be sought.
Vicha Mahakun, an NACC commission member, said the commission has already received information related to 16 deaths of which 13 of them originally came from the Department of Special Investigation. However, there’s still a lack of information on who ordered the crackdown, how the chain of command worked as well as events on the ground where fatalities occurred. With regard to cases which concluded that security officers were responsible for the death, there are still no details on which units were responsible.
“So far, the NACC has got well-rounded information, including from red-shirt leaders like Natthawut Saikua and Veera Musigapong as well as from the military.
Totally there were a few hundreds testimonies. Most said there were men in black shooting at civilians and none said security officers shot civilians as those who were shot are dead. So we lack the information about the time when the incidents took place and how it happened and who was responsible for those areas and which force shot civilians,” said Vicha, adding the commission will conclude all cases by the year’s end.
