MPs face terror charge
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POLICE COMPLAINT ACCUSES SIX DEMOCRATS OF TERRORISM OFFENCES OVER RUBBER PROTEST
A POLITICAL appointee in the Prime Minister’s Secretariat yesterday filed a police complaint against six Democrat Party MPs, accusing them of terrorism and security-related offences in connection with the current protests by rubber farmers in the South.
Sa-ngiam Samranrat, who said he was acting on his own, filed his complaint with the Crime Suppression Division against Songkhla MP Thaworn Senneam, Phatthalung MP Nipit Intarasombat and Nakhon Si Thammarat MPs Witthaya Kaewparadai, Apichat Karikanjana, Chinnaworn Boonyakiat and Thepthai Sennapong.
Some of them are senior Democrat MPs and party executives.
Sa-ngiam said the rubber protesters’ closure of railway and road sections had disrupted transport and communications in the South, resulting in a severe economic impact on the region for almost a month.
Moreover, many officials were injured during their crackdown on the protesters, he added.
He said he had based his complaint against the opposition MPs on information obtained from media reports.
“In addition to those MPs, I will also take legal action against others who were present during the protest,” he said.
Pol Colonel Anek Taosupap, who accepted Sa-ngiam’s complaint, said investigators would determine whether the MPs had committed terrorism offences.
Protesters who exercise their constitutional right to gather publicly cannot be considered terrorists by law, he said.
A group of Democrat MPs, led by former party secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban, yesterday called a press conference at the Parliament building.
They denied an accusation by government politicians that Democrat MPs were behind the street protests by mostly southern rubber farmers in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Suthep said Deputy Prime Minister Pracha Promnog had asked him on Thursday to call the protest leaders and request that they end their rally.
Suthep said he had told him that as he did not know any of the protest leaders personally, he could not help. He asked that the prime minister meet with the protesters personally to show that the government was sincere about dealing with their demand for a higher rubber price, he added.
He also warned that a violent crackdown would only worsen the situation, instead of solving the problem.
Pracha has denied media reports that arrest warrants were issued for Democrat MPs Thaworn and Nipit, according to their party colleague, Witthaya.
Witthaya said yesterday that Pracha, who is in charge of security affairs, had informed him no warrants would be issued against them. “He said it is not government policy [to do so], nor will there be action to disperse the protest. The chief of Nakhon Si Thammarat police has been instructed not to take such action,” he said.
Witthaya said legal action against Democrat MPs would not help the government tackle the problem for rubber growers. “The problem is caused by the government’s neglect of the growers’ plight over the past two years,” the time Pheu Thai has been in power, he insisted.
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra yesterday urged southern MPs to help with the negotiations with the farmers. She said the government was ready to help the farmers affected by low rubber prices.
“Talks should be a good forum for finding a way out,” she added.
Meanwhile, the spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command, Colonel Banpot Poonpien, yesterday said it had been established that the protest in Nakhon Si Thammarat stemmed from displeasure by rubber farmers affected by low prices.
Surat Thani Governor Chatpong Chatraphuti expressed concern over the rubber farmers’ plan to hold a large rally on Tuesday at the Surat Thani Cooperative, as the location is close to the province’s airport.
“If the protesters close a road or the airport, the situation will get worse and tourism will be affected,” he said.
In a related development, many northeastern rubber farmers are still unhappy with what the government has proposed to help the affected growers, said Sitthiporn Thepjantramaneechai, head of the Network of Rubber Farmers in the Northeast.
These unsatisfied farmers will continue with a plan to hold a street protest next Tuesday in Nakhon Ratchasima province.
Many rubber growers in the Northeast opted out of the rally plan, as they were happy with the government’s proposal.
Nakhon Ratchasima Governor Winai Buapradit said the local authorities were closely monitoring the situation and had put more than 700 crowd-control police on standby for a large street protest.
However, he added that it was estimated no more than 3,000 people would take part in the protest in the province.
