2010 crackdown: Former Thai leaders may face impeachment
25 Feb 2015 12:33 AM GMT
Two prominent pro-establishment Thai politicians should face impeachment for their role in a 2010 military crackdown that killed more than 90 anti-government protesters, the country’s powerful graft watchdog said on Tuesday.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission said former prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban should face “abuse of power” charges for overseeing the crackdown which also left hundreds injured.
If found guilty by the country’s junta-stacked parliament, they could be banned from politics for five years.
Scores of “Red Shirt” demonstrators loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra were killed in April and May 2010 -- the culmination of months of street protests against Abhisit’s administration and one of the bloodiest chapters in Thailand’s recent turbulent history.
The kingdom has been battered by a decade-long political crisis that broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class and royalist elites, backed by parts of the military, against rural and working-class voters loyal to Thaksin and his sister Yingluck, both of whom were ousted as prime minister.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission said former prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban should face “abuse of power” charges for overseeing the crackdown which also left hundreds injured.
If found guilty by the country’s junta-stacked parliament, they could be banned from politics for five years.
Scores of “Red Shirt” demonstrators loyal to ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra were killed in April and May 2010 -- the culmination of months of street protests against Abhisit’s administration and one of the bloodiest chapters in Thailand’s recent turbulent history.
The kingdom has been battered by a decade-long political crisis that broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class and royalist elites, backed by parts of the military, against rural and working-class voters loyal to Thaksin and his sister Yingluck, both of whom were ousted as prime minister.
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