Yellow Shirts charged for 2008 mass demonstrations
Thursday 27 December 2012
Printable
EmailProtest leaders in Thailand were indicted today for storming the prime minister's office compound and sealing off parliament during anti-government rallies in 2008.
Prosecutors filed charges against Sondhi Limthongkul, Chamlong Srimuang and other leaders of the People's Alliance for Democracy, also known as the Yellow Shirts.
They could be jailed for five years for the August 2008 rally, in which protesters stormed Government House and occupied its grounds for weeks.
And they could get an extra seven years if convicted of the blockade of parliament, in which hundreds were hurt.
Mostly hailing from the urban elite, the Yellow Shirts' protests grew from their hatred of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, whose government was in power from 2001 until it was overthrown in a 2006 military coup.
If you appreciated this article then please consider donating to the Morning Star's Fighting Fund to ensure we can keep developing your paper.
Editorial
Exploit Tory woes, Labour
Lord Feldman says that he didn't call grassroots Tories "mad swivel-eyed loons" while his accusers stand by their stories that he did.
Features
Let's get Britain back on track
As Aslef's annual assembly of delegates begins in Edinburgh tomorrow the general secretary explains the challenges his members - and workers across the country - face
The vicious cycle of eurozone decline
France is the latest to face clamour from the EU to enforce crippling 'structural reforms.' The medicine is killing the patient