20-year statute of limitations has expired
PUBLISHED : 28 Oct 2024 at 15:37
The Tak Bai massacre case is officially over, according to a court announcement on Monday, after all seven defendants failed to report to the judges by the Friday deadline.
The tragic case was closed after the accused did not appear at the court before 11.59pm on Friday.
The court said the case had gone beyond the 20-year statute of limitations and the arrest warrants issued for the accused were no longer valid.
The last court session on the case was attended by 48 plaintiffs, their lawyers and human rights advocates with security measures tightened at the court premises.
On Oct 25, 2004, seven Muslim protesters were killed during a rally in front of the Tak Bai police station in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat province. Another 78 were suffocated to death during transport from the rally site to the Ingkayutthaboriharn army camp in Nong Chik district in Pattani province.
The families of the victims sued seven people, including Gen Pisal Wattanawongkiri, the then army region 4 commander. He was a Pheu Thai party-list MP until Oct 14 when he resigned from the ruling party.
Gen Pisal then took sick leave until the end of the month – despite the House of Representatives being in session – and left for the United Kingdom.
State prosecutors decided to convict eight people at the Pattani Provincial Court. But none of them have been located and now the case has automatically ended due to the expiration of the statute of limitations.
Senator Tewarit Maneechai demanded that Deputy House Speaker Pichet Chuamuangpan of Pheu Thai be held accountable for approving the leave request of Gen Pisal even after the court already agreed to take up the Tak Bai case, Thai media outlets reported.