Thawil: drop DSI action against ex-leaders
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Former National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri yesterday insisted that the leaders of the previous government should not face murder charges related to the 2010 political violence as the authorities were simply keeping law and order.
Thawil, who served as the secretary of the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation, said he himself was ready to face legal action related to the CRES operations to restore law and order in April and May 2010.
Thawil said he felt uneasy about the decision of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to charge former prime minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and former deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban in relation to the CRES’s operations to restore order. Suthep was the CRES director.
Thawil said he was a former CRES member and was willing to face action related to the operations. He said no CRES member should escape responsibility if action were taken against Suthep. Thawil said DSI chief Tarit Pengdit could not escape responsibility either, because Tarit was also on the CRES panel.
In fact, no one should be subject to legal action related to the CRES operations because it was clear that the red-shirt demonstrators were not rallying peacefully, Thawil said.
He said the DSI had built its case against Abhisit and Suthep on incomplete information. The legal action would affect the morale of government officials who tried to restore peace, and infringe on people’s rights. It would also send a message that those who violated the law during demonstrations would be protected, he said.
Thawil insisted that the CRES had not intended to kill anyone, as charged by the DSI, but said the other side intended to cause deaths and injuries.
Thawil said Tarit should withdraw himself as the chief investigator in the case against Abhisit and Suthep because Tarit himself was on the CRES panel.
Tarit could be subject to criticism either way – for taking action against former CRES members or sparing them, Thawil said.
Tarit could be suspected of siding with the CRES, for which he worked, or of trying to please the current government by acting against the previous administration, he said.
