Thai southern MP to be prosecuted on rebel charges

An MP of the ruling Thai Rak Thai (TRT) Party will be prosecuted on 12 criminal charges including rebels for separation purposes in southern Thailand, the Office of the Attorney General has announced.

The Director-General of the Department of Criminal Litigation, Prateep Treevimol, and his deputies, was quoted by the Thai News Agency as saying Friday the MP from the southern Narathiwat Province, Nujmuddin Uma, would be prosecuted on 12 rebel-related charges.

They include murder on deliberation of authorities on duties, accumulation of forces and weapons for rebellious purposes, detention of others by force, robbery of state weapons, occupationof weapons illegally, and possession of weapons in public places without permission.

If found to be guilty of the charges, he could be executed as the maximum punishment, said the attorney officials.

His conspirator, Arif or Harif So Ko, also faces the same charges.

The case directly relates to the raid of the Kom Luang Narathiwat Rajanakarin Army Camp in Marue Bo-ok Sub-district of Narathiwat's Joh Ai Rong District on Jan. 3-4, 2004, when a numberof guns and other munitions were robbed from the army's depot.

The attorney official said that the two accused offenders were also found having involved in the Bersatu separatist group.

The Bersatu separatist group was formed by many guerrilla groups in the deep South, including the BRN, the GMIP, the Old andNew Pulo Groups, the BNPP, and the Pusaka Group, in 1991, aiming at separating Thailand's three southern border provinces of Yala, Narathiwat, and Pattan, and Sadao and Saba Yoy Districts of Songkhla Province to form an independent state.

However, the two accused culprits would be released on bails, if requested, as they are already in the close supervision of the Criminal Court, said the attorney officials.

Source: Xinhua