FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Bombings: Military justice might be no justice at all

Bombings: Military justice might be no justice at all

Many are jumping to conclusions about who was behind the Mother’s Day bombings, but the investigation team must guard against that temptation.

The deadly bomb and arson attacks in seven southern provinces between August 10 and 12 sent shock waves through Thai society, sparking hot debate over the identity of the assailants and their motives.
Among my own my friends and acquaintances, several have pronounced theories on the bomb plot and the identity of its masterminds. Interestingly, their assumptions differ according to their political affiliations and are mostly derived from sources online. One thing they share, though, is a lack of any solid evidence to back them up.
Meanwhile authorities have also been very active, the official investigation kick-started as the bombs were still exploding.
Police Colonel Kritsana Pattanacharoen, deputy spokesperson of the Royal Thai Police, disclosed on Friday, seven days after the incident, that the investigation had progressed to the point where it was nearly 100 per cent completed.
The figure sounds impressive, but it also triggered concern of a hurried scramble for a conclusion in this significant case.
According to their latest update, the authorities remain confident the attacks were politically motivated and are pointing fingers at an opposing political faction. This much was obvious when 17 arrest warrants were issued for members of a clandestine group called the Revolutionary Front for Democracy”, 15 of whom were detained last week. 
Held on a charge of forming an anti-government cell, the accused will now face military court.
Police said they had been monitoring this group since the referendum on August 7 and had taken action against them on the morning of August 13, just after the bombing spree. 
At one point a source in the investigation team disclosed that the 17 members were linked with the bomb attacks, but this claim was later denied by Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, as the authorities had failed to find evidence. 
The men have been detained in a military base for interrogation without the benefit of a lawyer present. This practice has been tried before in cases related to the deep South insurgency, and it has proved problematic. Independent watchdogs such as the Cross Cultural Foundation say innocent people have fallen foul of such extra-judicial means, with suspects also tortured inside Army bases.
So far, the seemingly hasty investigation has resulted in one innocent man being detained. Sakarin Karuahat was arrested in connection with an arson attack at a superstore in Nakorn Si Thammarat before being quietly released without charge.
The decisions and actions taken by the authorities naturally have more impact than any verdicts delivered by the court of public opinion, so the investigation team has the responsibility to conduct a thorough probe that finds the real culprits. 
It also has the duty to proceed based on evidence alone, without the kind of political bias that is infecting opinions at large.
Jumping to conclusions risks overlooking the facts and letting the assailants go scot-free. 
Thailand needs peace and justice and the authorities can do much to further that cause. But they can also hinder it by allowing prejudice to blind their perception of reality. 
 
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