Appeals Court set to rule on pipeline demo trial

Protesters acquitted by lower court

By Wichayant Boonchote

The Appeals Court will decide Tuesday whether to uphold a lower court's verdict clearing villagers charged in connection with their protest against the Thai-Malaysian gas refinery and pipeline project.

Around 100 opponents of the pipeline project are expected to turn up at the Region 9 Appeals Court to hear the verdict.

Protest leader Sulaiman Mudyusoh and 11 other villagers were earlier charged with the illegal gathering of more than 10 people, carrying weapons in a public area, and assaulting and obstructing authorities' operations during a mass demonstration against the controversial project at the JB Hotel in Hat Yai on Dec 20, 2005.

The protest by around 2,000 Muslim villagers pressed then prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra - who was chairing one of his mobile cabinet meetings at the hotel - to reconsider the pipeline project in the wake of a social impact assessment study.

However, the provincial court dismissed the case against all defendants on Feb 14, saying the villagers' protest was protected under Article 44 of the 1997 constitution, which states that the people have the right to hold a peaceful gathering.

The provincial court also ruled that the authorities had broken the normal procedure of crowd control operations in its attempt to stop the demonstration.

The prosecution appealed the verdict.

Prakob Lamsoh, one of the leading pipeline protesters, said the provincial court has scheduled the delivering of its decision for Tuesday at 9am.

Upset villagers had demanded that the Thaksin government scrap the project designated for the Joint Development Area (JDA) in the Gulf of Thailand in Songkhla's Chana district for fear of its environmental impact.

The gas pipeline is a joint project between Malaysia's state oil and gas firm Petronas and Thailand's PTT Plc to extract natural gas from the Gulf of Thailand.

The pipeline, which will bring gas ashore to facilities in Chana district, was supposed to be completed in late 2004. Work on the pipeline has now been completed.

Bangkok Post

Last Updated : Sunday April 08, 2007