Chinese Uighur suspects deny Bangkok bomb charges in court
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BANGKOK - Two Chinese ethnic Uighur men on Tuesday appeared at a Thai military court and denied all charges against them for involvement in a bombing that killed 20 people in Bangkok last year.
Most of those killed in the Aug. 17 explosion at the Erawan shrine near a busy Bangkok intersection were foreigners. More than 120 were wounded by the blast at the shrine, a popular attraction for both tourists and Thais alike.
"I am an innocent Muslim," Yusufu Mieraili, one of the two suspects, told the court. Mieraili asked the court to accelerate proceedings, as he had already spent six months in jail.
Mieraili and Adem Karadag, also known as Bilal Mohammed, heard the charges against them at a court in the Thai capital's historic quarters. They arrived shackled and handcuffed with shaved heads and wearing beige Thai prison uniforms.
They faced ten charges, including murder, premeditated murder and illegal possession of explosives.
Police said both men had confessed to having a role in the August 17 explosion.
Karadag's lawyer Schoochart Kanpai said on Tuesday that his client had never confessed.
"Defendant number one (Karadag) is not going back on his word," Schoochart told reporters outside the court. "He never confessed."
Schoochart said he had asked the court to look into his client's allegations that he was tortured in custody.
The junta has said it was unlikely the two suspects were tortured while in military custody.
The next stage in the case will take place on April 20-22,when both sides will review evidence, a judge said in court.
No group claimed responsibility for the August attack, which Thai authorities have said was in retaliation for a crackdown on human smuggling gangs and not a terrorist attack.
- Reuters
