Phumtham ready to discuss Tak Bai case with House panel

Defence Minister Phumtham Wechayachai said on Friday he is ready to address questions raised by the special House committee on southern border peace about the Tak Bai massacre case.
The panel plans to summon three key officials, including Mr Phumtham, to explain next Thursday what steps will be taken when the case’s statute of limitations expires the following day.
He said Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra had issued clear instructions about the case.
He said he has asked the committee to specify their concerns so relevant agencies can prepare information.
Mr Phumtham, also a deputy prime minister and member of the ruling Pheu Thai Party, urged the public not to politicise the Tak Bai case, which is gaining more attention as the case’s 20-year statute of limitations ends next Friday. If a suspect cannot be brought to trial by that date, they will no longer be criminally liable.
One of the seven suspects is former Pheu Thai list-MP Gen Pisal Wattanawongkiri, who served as commander of the Fourth Army Region during the tragedy that involved the deaths of 85 people in Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district on Oct 25, 2004.
Gen Pisal filed for medical leave of absence from the House until Oct 30, and his whereabouts are unknown. He resigned as a party member early this week and consequently lost his MP status.
Regarding the origin of Gen Pisal’s resignation letter, Mr Phumtham said police have been instructed to trace where the letter was sent from.
Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation, yesterday clarified why the criminal lawsuit was filed six months before the case’s expiry date.
First of all, she said the victims and their families had been living in a climate of fear over the past two decades, and the country was under the control of a military regime for several years, she said.
She noted that Gen Prawit Wongsuwon, the army commander during the Tak Bak incident, held a deputy prime minister position in the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration.
According to Ms Pornpen, the victims and their families left the legal issue to relevant agencies and decided to take the matter into their own hands after it was clear the National Human Rights Commission could not file on their behalf.
Lawyers from the foundation are among the four organisations representing the victims’ families in court for the case.
The lawsuit was filed in April against nine people, and the Narathiwat Provincial Court accepted the case against seven people in August.