Thaksin suspected of funding protesters
Source: Agencies |
June 22, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
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THAI authorities want to question dozens of people, apparently including former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, his family and allies, on suspicion of funding recent bloody anti-government protests.
The protests, by disgruntled supporters of self-exiled Thaksin, descended into Thailand's worst political violence in living memory when troops moved in to disperse them, raising fears for the stability of the US ally.
The government has launched a reconciliation plan aimed at healing divisions between Thaksin's mostly rural and urban poor supporters and the military and the royalist-linked establishment.
It has also blamed Thaksin and allies for instigating the violence and filed terrorism charges against them.
The Department of Special Investigation - Thailand's equivalent of the US FBI - said 69 individuals and 14 companies made unusually large and frequent financial transactions beginning in September 2009 and running through two months of protests that troops forcibly ended last month.
"This is not an arrest or an indictment," director general of the DSI, Tharit Pengdith, told reporters, referring to a list of people the authorities want to question.
"These individuals are simply suspected of unusual financial transactions and we ask for their cooperation to come and explain that since we are investigating political unrest," he said.
Authorities have not officially published the list but Tharit said it was expected to be released late yesterday. Local media have been leaked details and have reported that the list includes Thaksin, his wife and two children and many allies.
The protests, by disgruntled supporters of self-exiled Thaksin, descended into Thailand's worst political violence in living memory when troops moved in to disperse them, raising fears for the stability of the US ally.
The government has launched a reconciliation plan aimed at healing divisions between Thaksin's mostly rural and urban poor supporters and the military and the royalist-linked establishment.
It has also blamed Thaksin and allies for instigating the violence and filed terrorism charges against them.
The Department of Special Investigation - Thailand's equivalent of the US FBI - said 69 individuals and 14 companies made unusually large and frequent financial transactions beginning in September 2009 and running through two months of protests that troops forcibly ended last month.
"This is not an arrest or an indictment," director general of the DSI, Tharit Pengdith, told reporters, referring to a list of people the authorities want to question.
"These individuals are simply suspected of unusual financial transactions and we ask for their cooperation to come and explain that since we are investigating political unrest," he said.
Authorities have not officially published the list but Tharit said it was expected to be released late yesterday. Local media have been leaked details and have reported that the list includes Thaksin, his wife and two children and many allies.
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