Thailand Lacks Creditability to Investigate Bangkok Killings

The following press release was distributed via wire from Paris this morning. Thailand Lacks Creditability to Investigate Bangkok Killings Paris, June 10, 2010 – The panel established by the Thai authorities to investigate the violence against protestors in Bangkok over the period March to May lacks impartiality and independence, according to Robert Amsterdam of law firm Amsterdam & Peroff, legal advisors to the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship. During meetings in Paris, attorney Robert Amsterdam said that the de facto government of Thailand is incapable of discharging an independent investigation into the killings of nearly 90 people, most of them civilians. “This administration is known for its arbitrary treatment of the pro-democracy movement in Thailand. During the recent events, it labelled the Red Shirt protesters ‘terrorists’ without any prior inquiry, and it still detains more than 400 protesters without legal due process under the guise of an emergency decree,” said Amsterdam. “Prime Minister Abhisit administration’s own vested interest in the outcome of the investigation demonstrates quite clearly that only an international committee could possibly examine the evidence in an independent fashion.” Robert Amsterdam is an international lawyer retained by the former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and acts as legal advisor to the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD).