Court revokes warrants of police tied to revolt party

The Military Court agreed yesterday to revoke the arrest warrants of two policemen suspected of involvement in the activities of the so-called Revolutionary Front for Democracy Party (RFDP) who had been arrested for plotting against the way the country is governed.

“The warrants for the officers in Nong Khai were not issued properly. Their supervisors need to be informed first and they must be summoned before warrants can be issued,” said lawyer Benjarat Meetian, who filed a petition with the court.

Ms Benjarat said the police might arrest the officers again if they can follow the proper procedures. Meanwhile, the other 15 detained suspects linked to the RFDP were released on bail yesterday evening.

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said initially the suspects wanted to set up a “state within a state” while their lawyers said they were just part of a chat group which had never met. The original 17 suspects, aged from 39 to 71 years old, included Pol Sub Lt Wilawan Khoonsawat and Pol Lt Samai Khoonsawat.

They were initially arrested on Aug 13 in the wake of the Mother’s Day bomb and arson attacks in key tourist provinces. While initially linking them to the attacks, authorities later denied they were involved but accused them of being associated with the RFDP movement.

They were detained at the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok for seven days, except for the two officers, who were released after a few days for unknown reasons. Warrants were issued for the officers again last Thursday but they were not detained. The court has now agreed to strike out the warrants.

The Military Court approved the remaining 15 suspects’ bail request on Monday and they were released yesterday.

Pol Maj Gen Chayapol Chatchaiyadej, who heads the Royal Thai Police’s CounterCrime Planning Division, said the suspects had been working on a plan to set up a political party since last year.

They had plotted to overthrow the government and embrace communism, he said. Setting up a party and political activities have been prohibited since the 2014 coup but a laws banning communism was abolished in 2000.

The suspects had attended meetings in various provinces including Nonthaburi, Suphan Buri, Ang Thong and Phatthalung, he said.

Lawyers for the suspects reveal they were arrested over messages on their Line application chat group.

“They should not be arrested because the nature of a ‘criminal association’ charge is that suspects need to gather in person and function like an association. But discussion on an online chat group is not ‘associating’ as such,” lawyer Winyat Chatmontree said.

“The first suspects accused of the attacks were red shirts. But when the government could not find any evidence, the police came up with this nonsense allegation instead,” he said.