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January 13, 2006

Thailand: PM Confirms Muslim Lawyer Was Murdered

We reported yesterday that a Thai policeman, Nguen Thongsuk (pictured, left), was found guilty of coercion, in a case concerning lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, who disappeared on Friday evening, March 12, 2004. At Nguen Thongsuk's trial, a witness said that the lawyer was last seen with the policeman in Bangkok that day, being bundled into a police vehicle. Nguen was given a sentence of three years, a punishment criticised as too lenient by the lawyer's family and human rights groups.

Somchai had been a prominent human rights lawyer, chairman of Thailand's Muslim Lawyers Association and vice-chairman of the Human Rights Committee. At the time of his disappearance, Somchai had taken on the role of defending individuals who were suspected of committing violence in the southern provinces of Thailand. He claimed that in some instances, suspects were tortured by the Thai authorities.

He had taken on the case of two suspected Jemaah Islamiyah members accused of bomb plots against Thailand, and also he had defended nine other Muslim individuals from the south, accused of involvement in violence in the insurgency which began in January 2004. At the time, the unrest had cost 50 lives. Now the toll has reached 1000. Since Somchai took on the case of the two Jemaah Islamiyah suspects, he had received death threats.

At the time, the prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra (pictured below, right), did not take his disappearance too seriously. He apparently said: "Somchai had disputes with his wife. Perhaps, he just wants to be away from his family problems for a while."

Today, the Turkish Press relates that prime minister Thaksin is more realistic, and is stating that Somchai is dead. He is also candid about his own government officials' involvement in the disappearance. It is the first time that Thaksin has spoken publicly on the matter since the immediate aftermath of Somchai's disappearance.

"I know that Somchai is dead, and more than four government officials were involved, but witnesses and evidence are still being collected," he told a press conference.

He announced that the department of special investigations was involved in examining the case, with a view to bringing murder charges. "Circumstantial evidence confirmed that he's dead. But this case is not easy at all, and because it involves government officials, it's very difficult to find evidence and witnesses," the prime minister said.

He said that murder charges had not been previously filed against Nguen Thongsuk and four others (who were acquitted) because Somchai's body has not been found.

The Turkish Press states that there were four Jemaah Islamiyah suspects being defended by Somchai at the time of his abduction, and that these individuals, who had claimed torture, were acquitted in June 2005.

Justice Elizabeth Evatt of the International Commission of Jurists said "It's extremely satisfactory that the prime minister has publicly acknowledged that Somchai has in fact been killed, murdered of course, and that this was done by public officials."

Posted by Giraldus Cambrensis at January 13, 2006 9:31 PM

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