Five years after a Japanese cameraman and two red-shirt protesters were shot and killed in the crackdown on anti-government demonstrators, the Bangkok South Criminal Court on Thursday said an inquest could not determine who fired the fatal shots.
The court said Reuters video journalist Hiroyuki Muramoto and United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship members Wasant Phuthong and Tossachai Mekngamfah were killed by high-velocity bullets, but that it was unknown whether those bullets were fired by soldiers or demonstrators.
The three were killed in front of Satreewithaya School on Din So Road near the Democracy Monument during the April 10, 2010 military crackdown.
Jessada Jandee, a lawyer representing the families of all three victims, talks to reporters as he leaves the Bangkok South Criminal Court Thursday. (photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
Soldiers armed with live ammunition and rubber bullets fired into the crowd to dislodge protesters from their encampment, but the army accused protesters of firing live rounds and throwing grenades during the clashes.
The Department of Special Investigation released a report in 2011 saying Hiroyuki Muramoto's death did not appear to have been caused by security forces, a reversal of preliminary findings that raised questions on whether authorities were trying to absolve the military.
Based on witness accounts, autopsy results from the Institute of Forensic Medicines, and reports on the examination of the crime scene, the court ruled that Muramoto, 43, was hit by a high-velocity bullet of an unknown type in the left upper chest, damaging his lungs and veins, and running through his body, exiting from the back of the right arm.
Wasant Phuthong was hit by a similar bullet in the head from the left. Tossachai Mekngamfa was hit by an unspecified type of bullet in the left chest. The bullet went through the ribcage and heart.
Investigators, however, could not determine the type of weapon or bullet, nor the bullet trajectory, the court said.
Former chairwoman of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship Thida Tavornseth talks to reporters as she leaves the Bangkok South Criminal Court Thursday. (photo by Pawat Laopaisarntaksin)
Jessada Jandee, a lawyer representing the families of all three victims, called the court's finding "unexpected" and said the families wanted to find a way to appeal.
Tida Tawornseth, a key UDD member, said she accepted the decision, although with disappointment.
The government has been criticised for the slow pace of investigations into more than 90 deaths that took place during the 2010 mass protests that also left 1,400 hurt. The court has ruled in inquests on only 29 deaths, of which 17 were found to have been killed by government forces in the line of duty.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.