Thailand-bound Chinese activist nabbed in Laos
Lawyer Lu Siwei was attempting to reach Bangkok to board flight to US to rejoin family
PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2023 at 18:34
BEIJING: A Chinese human rights lawyer has been arrested in Laos while en route to Thailand, and activists and family members fear he could be deported back to China and face prison time.
Lao police seized Lu Siwei on Friday morning while he was boarding a train for Thailand. He was reportedly on his way to Bangkok to catch a flight to the United States to join his wife and daughter, The Associated Press reported.
“I’m extremely worried for his safety,” said his wife, Zhang Chunxiao, in a text message seen by the news agency. “If he’s sent back to China, he’d definitely be imprisoned.”
The Chinese foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Lu had a history of taking on sensitive cases and defending people deemed to be political targets by Chinese authorities.
In 2021 he and a colleague were stripped of their licences, reportedly because they were representing the “Hong Kong 12”, a group of activists who attempted to flee the territory after China imposed a sweeping national security law.
Some of them were already facing prosecution for alleged crimes linked to the huge and often violent pro-democracy protests that swept Hong Kong in 2019.
Lu was barred later in 2021 from leaving China for a visiting fellowship in the United States. His wife and daughter both resettled in the United States last year.
Bob Fu, founder of the Texas-based religious rights group ChinaAid, said he was contacted by Lu’s family two weeks ago to assist in his escape from China. ChinaAid earlier this year helped to get more than 60 Chinese Christians resettled in Texas after they were detained in Pattaya for overstaying their visas.
Lu’s arrest on Lao soil reflects how Beijing pursues critics abroad, Fu said, part of a broader clampdown that has instilled fear in Chinese dissents.
Lu was being accompanied by two activists working with ChinaAid when he was arrested. Police also grabbed one of the activists and confiscated his passport briefly before returning it.
Dissidents on the run from the Chinese state have reported harassment elsewhere in Southeast Asia, including the family of one detained by Thai police after bomb threats were called in under their name.
Beijing on alert as Typhoon Doksuri sweeps northwards
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Three Bali immigration officers arrested over Cambodia organ trafficking ring
JAKARTA: Three Bali immigration officers have been arrested for their alleged role in an illegal organ trafficking syndicate that ferried dozens of victims to Cambodia to sell their kidneys, Indonesian police said on Saturday (Jul 29). The move comes as authorities crack down on the suspected illegal organ trade ring,Continue Reading
Senegalese swimmer missing in Phuket
PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2023 at 17:49
PHUKET: A search was continuing on Saturday for a 22-year-old Senegalese man who went missing after going swimming at Freedom beach on Friday.
Forty-five searchers from Karon municipality and other agencies were taking part in the operation on Saturday. They also expanded the search area to Patong beach to the north and Karon beach about two kilometres south of Freedom beach on the west coast of the tourist island.
The tourist, identified as Cheikhonuna Ba, 22, was last seen swimming at Freedom beach at around 11am on Friday, said a spokesman at the Royal Thai Navy Third Army operation centre.
Navy officers were dispatched to join lifeguards to search for the man on Friday, when strong wind and waves obstructed the operation.
Singapore can have âbest of three worldsâ if I become President, says Ng Kok Song
SINGAPORE: If Singaporeans choose him to be the next President, the country can have “the best of three worlds”, said presidential hopeful Ng Kok Song on Saturday (Jul 29) as he gave some personal reflections on the elected presidency.
Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the Asia Cat Expo 2023, Mr Ng said that if he is elected President, former senior minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam can return to the government to serve Singapore as he has done for the last 22 years.
Meanwhile, Mr George Goh – the third potential presidential candidate and founder of retailer Harvey Norman Ossia – can go back to “building his business to support the government’s efforts to grow our economy”, Mr Ng said.
“I think that would be a very good thing because as you know, our government is going through a difficult time. So we need very good and capable people to come back or to go back to serve our country,” he added.
“I will be so honoured to be able to serve the people of Singapore one more time.”
Mr Ng also laid out two other scenarios where either Mr Tharman, 66, or Mr Goh, 63, become Singapore’s President.
He noted that all three potential candidates have explained what they would do if they are elected president, but have not shared what they would do when the election is over.
If he does not get elected as President, Mr Ng, 75, said he will go back to his asset management company Avanda Investment Management, which he co-founded in mid-2015.
He started out as an investment analyst at the Ministry of Finance’s overseas investment department before moving on to the Monetary Authority of Singapore, before finally ending his 45 years in public service as the chief investment officer of Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC.
“I will go back and grow my company … so that Avanda can become a homegrown Singaporean investment management company that Singaporeans can be proud of and which will contribute to the further development of Singapore as a financial centre,” he told the media.
Mr Ng was at the Asia Cat Expo 2023 event with his fiancee Sybil Lau, where they interacted with stall owners and members of the public as well as some pet cats.
The couple own an 18-month-old British shorthair cat named Max and a Japanese Spitz dog named Cotton.
Chuvit insists Thaksin will not return soon
Whistleblower debunks talk of applying for pardon within 24 hours, saying ex-pm is being deceived
PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2023 at 17:08
Anyone who believes fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will return to Thailand on Aug 10 to face prison time is mistaken, according to political whistleblower Chuvit Kamolvisit.
It would be wrong to think that police and royal guards will be at Don Mueang airport to receive the de facto leader of the Pheu Thai Party and take him to prison to start serving a combined jail term of 10 years, Mr Chuvit said in a Facebook post on Saturday.
The ousted premier would not have waited for 15 or 16 years if he actually wanted to return, said the former massage parlour tycoon.
Mr Chuvit caused an online stir on Friday night when he posted a message saying Thaksin’s plans had changed because a new situation had arisen. He did not elaborate.
The ex-premier’s daughter Paetongtarn “Ung Ing” Shinawatra, a Pheu Thai prime ministerial candidate, called the whistleblower’s remark “baseless”. Plans for her father’s Aug 10 return were still in place, she said.
Since being overthrown by a military coup on Sept 19, 2006, Thaksin has been living in self-imposed exile, except for a brief visit to the country in 2008. During his absence, he was sentenced to a total of 12 years in prison in four cases. The statute of limitations has expired in one case, leaving three convictions that carry terms totalling 10 years that he must serve.
Mr Chuvit said that Thaksin’s announced return on Aug 10 must involve a “special agenda” due to the intense political climate surrounding the voting for a new prime minister and the setting up of a new administration.
Exiled former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra gestures while being interviewed by reporters in Hong Kong on March 25, 2019. (Photo: AFP)
Mr Chuvit said people can apply for a royal pardon on the first day they enter prison, but this applies to ordinary lawbreakers, not those at the “prime minister” level.
It would be crazy to think that the same rule applies to influential lawbreakers because they need special care from the Corrections Department due to safety concerns, and they cannot be mixed with other inmates, he said.
“To petition for a royal pardon for a personal crime, it is left to the royal prerogative,” Mr Chuvit wrote. “No one has ever received a royal pardon, except for Section 112 (lese-majeste) offences.”
Those who have committed crimes like corruption, robbery and fraud have never been granted a royal pardon, he said.
“If anyone told Thaksin that it’s possible, it’s a plan to deceive him.”
The former politician advised Thaksin to cancel his plan to return to the country indefinitely, or until a new government is formed.
Mr Chuvit said he was not angry at Ms Paetongtarn for disputing his claim.
“I’m not angry because I understand that she wishes her father to return home,” he wrote.
On Friday, Mr Chuvit posted a message on Facebook saying: “The game has taken a twist. Thaksin is retreating and has cancelled his plans to return to Thailand. The situation has changed.” He ended with a hashtag “deceived again and again”.
Malaysian police tracking down suspect who hurled stones at PAS headquarters
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China hopes France can help take heat out of relations with EU
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Bangladesh police clash with protesters blockading capital
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Car falls off expressway, driver survives
Truck strikes power pole in Ratchaburi, killing driver’s wife
PUBLISHED : 29 Jul 2023 at 15:32
A 26-year-old man narrowly escaped death when his car plummeted 15 metres off an expressway in Bangkok early on Saturday.
Expressway police and rescue volunteers were alerted at 3:30am to a Honda Civic that had plunged from the Si Rat Expressway onto Rama VI Road.
At the scene, authorities found the vehicle with all its tyres punctured, a large collision mark on its front, a collapsed roof and windows shattered.
Inside, they found the driver, identified only as Wachiraya, and rushed him to ViMUT Hospital.
During questioning, Mr Wachiraya told police that he had entered the expressway from Ngam Wong Wan Road but lost control of his car near the exit to Rama VI Road. As a result, his vehicle crashed through a concrete barrier and plunged 15 metres to the road below.
Police were reviewing surveillance video to determine the cause of the incident, and a blood alcohol test will be conducted on the driver.
In a separate accident that occurred around 7am in Photharam district of Ratchaburi, a six-wheel truck crashed into a power pole, resulting in death of the driver’s wife and injuries to the driver and their five-year-old son.
Police said the driver, Prayun Thaisuay, 49, and his son were rescued from the wreck and sent to Photharam Hospital. The mother, Sirinapa Phromtao, 46, was found dead in a hammock in the back of the vehicle.
Rescue workers took about 30 minutes to remove the woman’s body and deliver her for an autopsy.
The family was travelling from Kanchanaburi to Nakhon Pathom at the time of the accident. According to investigators, the crash occurred when the driver fell asleep at the wheel and missed a turn.
The scene has been identified as a site with a history of frequent road accidents, including a recent collision involving a motorcycle and the same power pole.
A six-wheeler struck a power pole in Photharam, Ratchaburi on Saturday morning, resulting in one death and two injuries. (Screen capture)