Summonses issued to 30 for flouting junta order

The latest move in the temple siege saga was announced yesterday by Department of Special Investigation (DSI) deputy chief Pol Colonel Songsak Raksaksakul.
All 30 individuals are accused of flouting the order, issued by Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha under the all-powerful Article 44 of the interim charter.
Songsak said the National Office of Buddhism (NOB) had been asked to help bring in the temple’s communication chief Phra Sanitwong Chareonrattawong, who failed to respond to a summons but was reportedly still in the temple, and three monks to answer charges of incitement.
The Dhammakaya supporters’ protest tent site at the Klong Luang Central Market would soon be cleared, Songsak said.
The temple continued to be cordoned off in keeping with the junta order, despite two deaths, one of them a protest suicide by a man in his 60s. The circumstances surrounding the later death of female assistant pharmacist Pattana Chiangraeng, 48, reportedly from an asthma attack, have been surrounded by controversy. 
Monks claimed an ambulance was stopped by authorities and could not reach her in time, while the government has insisted it was a distortion of the facts. 
Besides cutting phone signals in the area, the DSI issued summonses or even arrest warrants for the temple’s communication team members, including spokesman Ong-art Thamnita, outspoken disciple Ai Petchthong and Phra Sanitwong. 
On Thursday, the DSI filed two charges of incitement under the Criminal Code’s Article 116 and the violation of Computer Act’s Article 14 (3) against the owner of “Phra Sanitwong Chareonrattawong” Facebook page for posting information that threatened national security.
Police deputy spokesman Pol Colonel Krissana Pattanacharoen, meanwhile, responded to the DSI’s instruction to arrest Phra Sanitwong on sight and have an NOB official accompany him to hear the charges. 
He said that if Phra Sanitwong failed to come to hear the charges, an arrest warrant would be issued. He added that the authority was checking laws to establish if the monk’s publishing the deceased Pattana’s picture and Line chat messages were illegal. 
DSI deputy spokesman Woranan Srilam yesterday said the government side’s initial report that Pattana died up to five hours before a medical team checked on her at 2pm on Wednesday came from rescue workers who found the pharmacist in her dorm room behind the temple. 
However, a medical examiner who conducted an autopsy later reported that she had died two hours before, and that more details would be released to authorities later.
Pattana’s body yesterday arrived in her hometown in the Phu Sang district of Phayao for a funeral on March 9. The family declined to make any comment ahead of the cremation, but her eldest brother Somjit Chiangraeng said he didn’t know that she suffered from such a chronic illness.
Deputy Prime Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday that to ensure people were getting required medical care, he had on Thursday instructed Army and police medical teams to be stationed at Dhammakaya as support to the temple’s infirmary. 
Meanwhile, a joint Army and police operation to clear rented tents at the Klong Luang market protest site yesterday afternoon was postponed due to concerns that it could result in a clash with protesters. 
Klong Luang police officers were told to stand by to collect photographic evidence of any defiance. Earlier, the tent owner tried to take them back for fear of a junta order violation. Facing resistance, he filed a police record of his attempt, while protesters raised money to buy the tents.