4th Army to sue man over army brutality claim
Internal probe turns up no evidence
The Fourth Army Region is prepared to file criminal and civil lawsuits against a man who has accused the army of torture and brutality over a television programme which was broadcast last week.
The forward command of Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc) under the Fourth Army yesterday filed a complaint against Isamaae Tae with police in Muang district of Pattani.
Lt Col Setthasit Kaewkoonmuang, a legal officer attached to Isoc Region 4, said the complaint will serve as evidence when the military pursue criminal and civil lawsuits against Mr Isamaae.
The complaint involves an accusation Mr Isamaae made during the television programme “Policy by the People” broadcast on the Thai PBS station on Feb 5. He claimed to have been tortured by security officers to confess to a crime.
Lt Col Setthasit said officials have looked into Mr Isamaae’s accusation and found it to be groundless.
Fourth Army commander and Isoc Region 4 chief Lt Col Piyawat Nakwanich has asked the legal division to take action because the accusation damaged the reputation of the Fourth Army and the Isoc Region 4.
According to Lt Col Setthasit, Mr Isamaae gathers information about the deep South for media organisations and he has persistently made the accusation against the military.
In one case, the forward command filed a defamation lawsuit against the editor of a media outlet over the accusation and the lawsuit was settled out of court.
He said he is not worried about public pressure and the legal action is intended to have the accusation heard and settled by the justice system.
Meanwhile, bomb specialists yesterday morning defused a home-made bomb attached to a bicycle in Yala’s Yarang district.
Bomb experts and local police were alerted to a bike which had been left in front of a mosque in Ban Ton Makham in suspicious circumstances.
An examination of the bicycle found a time bomb hidden inside the drinking bottle attached to the frame.
Authorities sealed off the traffic as the bomb disposal team went to work.
The device was successfully detonated in a controlled environment.
According to an initial investigation, the bicycle was of the same series and make as those found with bombs attached to them in several locations in three districts of Pattani on Feb 11.
On Sunday morning, six explosions took place in Yaring, Yarang and Sai Buri districts.
A police source said CCTV cameras in Yarang district had captured three people believed to have been involved.
The string of blasts in Pattani, some of which were intended to lure officers to the scene where secondary bombs were planted, was thought to be the work of a militant group which wanted to “demonstrate its power” after reports that some insurgent suspects had decided to turn themselves in to authorities, a police source said earlier.
Meanwhile, the National Security Council yesterday visited the 44th Ranger Forces camp in Sai Buri district where Lt Gen Piyawat Nakwanich, commander of the 4th Army Region, chaired a meeting on how to provide assistance to former insurgency groups who turn themselves in and wish to re-integrate to society.
Lt Gen Piyawat said representatives from the NSC as well as the justice and interior ministries were invited to inspect progress as 103 of the former insurgents who had applied to join the programme, went through the nationality verification process as part of their re-entry to society.