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Villagers say they will not attend court
Suthep charge angers Assembly of the Poor
Bangkok Post, Aug 22, 2000
Pak Moon villagers who were charged with breaking into the compound of
Government House last month have refused to report to the Criminal Court
tomorrow and insist they must be freed of the charge.
Pakdee Chanthajiad, one of the 225 northeastern villagers charged with
trespassing, said yesterday that all of them would remain at their
makeshift
shelter in front of Government House.
"We will be here. If the police want to arrest us, they can come
here," he
said.
He noted that the villagers still doubted their release on bail arranged
by
Mr Chamroen Waraporn, president of the Law Society, who reportedly had
close
connections with legal experts of the Democrat Party.
The villagers came from Ubon Ratchathani province early last month to
demand
that the government open all the sluice gates of Pak Moon dam to allow
fish
to swim upstream to spawn.
Meanwhile, Mr Chamroen said that if the villagers were determined not to
report to the court tomorrow, he would ask the court to delay their trial
for a month.
"The police have not finished their interrogation into the case and
this can
be cited as a reason for the delay," he said.
As a guarantor for the villagers, Mr Chamroen admitted that the court
might
fine him over 20,000 baht for the villagers' absence.
He said he was ready to face the fine as he was sincere in trying to help
them. He denied the rumour that the government was behind his actions.
- Meanwhile, about 250 villagers representing the Assembly of the Poor
rallied in front of the Transport and Communications Ministry on
Rajdamnoen
Avenue yesterday, to protest against Minister Suthep Thaugsuban for saying
that New Aspiration and Thai Rak Thai parties were backing the assembly.
Mr
Suthep laughed and declined to comment on the rally.
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