Army issues rebuttal of over killing of taxi driver
The Army yesterday issued a statement rebutting its involvement in the killing of a taxi driver during the 2010 political mayhem.
In the statement, the Army said it wanted to clarify the prosecution's testimony during the judicial inquest on the death of Channarong Pholsrila on May 15, 2010, in front of a petrol station on Ratchaprarop Road.
According to the Army’s statement, the fatal shooting of Channarong occurred after the Army deployed its soldiers into the live-fire zone on Rang Nam Road as part of the operations to encircle the red-shirt rally at Ratchaprasong.
However, the Army states, unidentified gunmen launched an attack, forcing soldiers to retreat to Ratchaprarop 14 Road. This exchange of gunfire proves the existence of other armed men in the area, who were unrelated to the military, the Army says.
During the gun battle, local residents alerted soldiers to the fatal shooting of Channarong and the wounding of a journalist.
The Army dispatched medics, accompanied by a news photographer, in a rescue operation.
Before reaching the scene to recover the taxi driver’s body and rescue the injured journalist, the medics came under attack and the news photographer sustained gunshot wounds.
At the inquest, the witness testified that Channarong had been shot by an assault rifle. However, the testimony made no mention of a ballistics report that would determine whether or not it was an Army rifle.
