Protests to stay till Thai leaders report to police

[May 11, 2010]  BANGKOK (AP) -- Thai protesters refused to end their two-month occupation of a Bangkok commercial district Tuesday, saying they will not budge until the deputy premier surrenders to police to face charges for his role in a government crackdown that turned deadly.

The Red Shirt protesters, who believe the government came to power illegitimately and are demanding new elections, have agreed in principle to the prime minister's offer to hold a vote in November -- initially seen as the way out of the crisis. But on Monday, they said they would hold their ground until Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban answered for deaths during April clashes between protesters and soldiers.

Suthep met with criminal investigators Tuesday morning at the Department of Special Investigation, Thailand's equivalent of the FBI, to hear a separate complaint that had been filed against him a day earlier by a politician sympathetic to the Red Shirts.

"I'm ready to enter the legal procedure," Suthep told reporters. "I'm not following the demands of protesters. I'm following the law."

But protest leaders dismissed Suthep's move as an empty gesture because the agency is part of the government's Center the Resolution of the Emergency Situation, and reports to him.

Protesters instead demanded Suthep report to national police at the Crime Suppression Division -- which is considered more sympathetic to the protest group, making it unlikely that the deputy premier would submit to questioning there.

"The government should not try to trick us," said Weng Tojirakarn. The head of the DSI "is Suthep's subordinate. He can't be the plaintiff."

"As soon as he enters the judicial process, we will end the protest," Weng added.

The protesters, known formally as the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, have also called on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to face possible charges for the violence, which includes three sets of clashes that killed 29 people and wounded nearly 1,000. No criminal charges are pending against either Abhisit or Suthep, who has led the government's security response to the protests that started on March 12.

The Red Shirts include the rural and urban poor as well as pro-democracy advocates who see the Oxford-educated Abhisit as symbolic of an elite impervious to the plight of most Thais. Many are supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, a populist leader who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and charged with corruption and abuse of power.

Their protests have paralyzed a central portion of Bangkok that is home to several glitzy malls and luxury hotels, devastating the economy, particularly the vital tourism sector.

More than two dozen Red Shirt leaders already face a variety of charges, ranging from violating the terms of a state of emergency to weapons violations and assaults on government officials. The most serious charges, related to disruption of public transport services, infrastructure and telecommunications, are covered by terrorism statutes and are punishable by up to 20 years in jail and 1 million baht ($31,000) fines. No one has been arrested despite multiple attempts by police to serve warrants.

The Red Shirts have also demanded that their TV channel be allowed back on air. The government has shut down the channel's satellite link and dozens of websites that it says have incited hatred in the country.

"It's a negotiating tactic: 'If we get prosecuted, you too must be prosecuted,'" said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of Institute of Security and International Studies at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

Despite the deadlock, he said the crisis was moving in a positive direction because at least both sides are negotiating -- rather than fighting in the streets.

[Associated Press; By THANYARAT DOKSONE]

Associated Press writers Jocelyn Gecker, Denis D. Gray and Grant Peck contributed to this report.

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