Police mull charging Jon, activists

General News - Tuesday December 18, 2007

RACE TO PARLIAMENT

Police mull charging Jon, activists

Police are considering possible criminal charges against former senator Jon Ungphakorn and activists who stormed parliament last week in a bid to force the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to stop passing laws.

Deputy metropolitan police commissioner Jade Mongkolhatthee said police were acting on a complaint filed on behalf of NLA Secretary-General Suwimol Bhumisingharaj against the activists.

The officer made the statement as Mr Jon, now chairman of the Non-governmental Organisation Coordinating Committee on Development (NGO-Cord), called for another rally at parliament tomorrow.

He criticised attempts to rush through eight contentious bills he said had not received the participation of the public, including those violating human rights such as the Internal Security bill, the Radio and Television Broadcasting Bill, the Water Resources Bill and Farmers' Council Bill.

Others include the bills for autonomy of Chulalongkorn and Chiang Mai Universities and King Mongkut's University of Technology Lat Krabang, and the National Agricultural Council bill.

''We are not the tool of any interested groups, either the proponents or opponents of [deposed prime minister] Thaksin Shinawatra,'' Mr Jon said.

''We do not want to derail the elections because we want a new House where the people take part in passing the laws.''

Mr Jon maintained that the activists would adhere to the principle of non-violence in tomorrow's rally as the activists will form a human chain around parliament.

The rally will take place from 8am to 7pm.

''We want to stop the NLA from passing eight laws which violate human rights and freedom. The rally will be peaceful and without arms. We will prevent a third party from causing havoc,'' Mr Jon said, denying that the move was politically motivated. He said the NLA lacked a mandate to rush through the bills.

Police are expected to heighten security measures at parliament tomorrow.

Pol Maj-Gen Jade said that an initial investigation had found that Mr Jon and others used force to suspend the NLA session. Some activists even kicked and punched parliament officers who tried to stop them, he said.

Such actions would see the activists facing six criminal charges. These were forced intrusion, assembling more than 10 people together to cause unrest, forcing others to act against their will, detaining others against their will, forcing officers to neglect their duties and damaging public property.

He said that the investigation team, which he leads, would proceed fairly and police would identify the offenders using photographic evidence and video recordings.

All the alleged offenders would hear their charges around Dec 25, he said.

Bangkok Post