A large police contingent has been readied to provide security at redshirt rallies and activities planned for the weekend, with soldiers put on standby for emergency mobilisation.
Five hundred riot police will be backed up by 900 regular police officers, with troops called in if situations get out of hand, a police spokesman for the Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES) said yesterday.
The red shirts have announced rallies today and tomorrow to mark the day Army specialist Khattiya Sawasdiphol was fatally shot in the head six months ago during their protests at Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong intersection. Tomorrow, they also plan to honour late prime minister Samak Sundaravej, whose body is scheduled for cremation. Samak was an ally of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Another major rally is expected next Friday to mark six months since troops moved in to disperse the crowds of red shirts at Ratchaprasong intersection.
News media have dubbed the three days of redshirt activities “three days of danger”.
Two redshirt protest leaders were released this week after a Justice Ministry fund secured their bail. Sommai Inthanakha and Bunrit Sodakham later said they had been beaten to force them to confess to participating in crimes during the demonstrations. A CRES assistant spokesman, Pol Colonel Songphol Watthanachai, said it was their right to make claims about being beaten or to sue CRES officials.
Both men met with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, a chat described by the redallied Pheu Thai Party as a publicity stunt. A party spokesman said 148 red shirts remained in detention and the bailout of the two men was a failed attempt to win over red shirts across the country.
The Justice Ministry, meanwhile, is seeking jobs for red shirts who were unemployed before they took part in the protests and were arrested. Their requests for better conditions during detention, medical services, and minor assistance for their families have been met.
Bail for more red shirts is being processed but those arrested for violent crimes and arson will not benefit from the government’s leniency, said a senior ministry official.
Ref: The Nation (Published on November 13, 2010 )
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