Army must either prove accusation against students or apologise

Clara Holzer reckons that, in coming to the defence of the students who demonstrated against the prime minister in Khon Kaen, I am barking up the wrong tree. She is wrong, my feet are firmly planted on the ground.

I have no evidence to disprove an Army commander’s claim that they accepted money to stage their protest, but nor, apparently, does he, so why did he make the claim in the first place? Both he and his superior now appear to be backtracking, while the students, quite understandably, are demanding that the Army produce evidence to support the accusation.

Clara Holzer would be right to say that these students got what they deserved if they had just been detained by the army and given a brief dressing down for their actions. What they did not deserve was to have their integrity smeared without any proof of wrongdoing. Let the Army prove their accusation, or else apologise.

“I have no evidence to disprove an Army commander’s claim that they accepted money to stage their protest, but nor, apparently, does he have any evidence to support his claim that they did, so why did he make the claim in the first place?”

Robin Grant

Bangkok