Jatuporn links 'men in black' to Army
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Red shirt co-leader and Pheu Thai MP Jatuporn Promphan submitted to further questioning by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) yesterday in relation to the crackdown on red-shirt protesters in April and May 2010, which left 92 people dead.
Jatuporn brought with him copies of related court verdicts and legal documents from a civil court case filed against the Army seeking monetary compensation for designating a “live-fire zone” during the crackdown.
On the issue of the so-called “men in black” seen firing weapons during the unrest, Jatuporn insisted that photographs released by the now-defunct Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) contain irregularities, and were released three days after the incident. Jatuporn claimed the photos were part of a psychological warfare campaign mounted by the then-ruling Abhisit Vejjajiva administration.
“In the case of the men in black, it was imagined and plotted beforehand. Then there was the operation at Kok Wua Intersection. If the issue is real, there should be no cover-ups, and CCTV footage should be released. The CRES spent more than Bt6 billion; why don’t they have CCTV video?” Jatuporn asked.
He added that he believes photographs exist of men in black and Army personnel hiding in and shooting from the same area and direction.
As for rumours that Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha planned to stage a military coup against the government, Jatuporn said he believed this Army chief would never carry out such an act. Even if there was to be a coup, the military would not be able to control things and the people would not accept it, Jatuporn added.
In a related development, Gen Prayuth discounted Jatuporn’s words regarding the alleged link between the men in black and the Army, adding that it was for the public to decide if it wanted to believe Jatuporn. Prayuth said he didn’t know if the men in black were real.
Pheu Thai party-list MP Weng Tojirakarn, meanwhile, held a press conference as a member of the House Committee on Law, Justice and Human Rights announcing that he had submitted a letter to committee chairman Pol General Virut Fuensaen asking him to release the panel’s report on the 2010 incident.
Making the report public would reduce the risk of a recurrence of such deadly violence, Weng said.
