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Signs Of Dissent Within Thai Military As Protests Grow

2021-01-01T19:05:24Z

StefanieKulakows:

By Chayut Setboonsarng and Matthew Tostevin BANGKOK, Dec 2 (Reuters) - In July, as thousands of Thais demanded the resignation of the government in one of the largest street demonstrations since a 2014 military coup, Army Sergeant Ekkachai Wangkaphan sided with the protesters. "Down with dictatorship," he wrote on Facebook under a news story about a jailed activist, a week before the [http://www.ajaxtime.com/?s=protest protest]. On the day of the protest, July 18, he shared a livestream and pictures with the hashtag of the Free Youth protest group. A few weeks later, he shared a photo of a protester carrying a placard saying "The country where you speak the truth and you go to jail." His superiors in the Royal Thai Army warned him to stop. But he had already made up his mind to quit and left the army in October. "When the protests escalated, orders to prohibit social media posts came in more often," Ekkachai, 33, told Reuters in an interview. "They want to nip it in the bud, but they can't." Social media is exposing discontent among some soldiers, police and civil servants after months of protests against Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha and the monarchy of King Maha Vajiralongkorn. Although Thai soldiers have occasionally expressed sympathy for protesters in past bouts of political unrest, the rapid expansion of social media is making it difficult to contain. Reuters reviewed dozens of social media posts and messages on chat groups used by soldiers and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-thai-lan-bangkok-pattaya-5-ngay.html tua du lịch thái lan] police and found many [http://www.speakingtree.in/search/expressing%20sympathy expressing sympathy] with protesters and anger or unease over the way those who oppose the government are being treated. Some posted about their loyalty to Thailand's institutions. It is impossible to establish how far disaffection reaches based on social media activity. But the posts have attracted the attention of authorities. "If you are posting things that are creating misunderstanding and provocation that would create instability, that is inappropriate," said Colonel Sirijan Ngathong, the army's deputy spokeswoman, adding that commanding officers were reviewing the social media activity of soldiers to prevent breaches of army rules. She did not respond to requests for comment on the case involving Ekkachai or whether surveillance had increased since protests escalated in July. Some posts appeared on the viral video-sharing app TikTok. One TikTok video, now removed, showed a soldier giving the three-fingered salute, a gesture of resistance featured in "The Hunger Games" film that Thailand´s student-led, anti-government protest movement adopted. "Keep up the struggle, Thai brothers and sisters," said the caption. The video´s author told Reuters that he is a serving professional soldier but asked that his name not be used. Some sections of the army have intensified their clampdown. A message posted by a coordinator in a private chat group used by officers in one artillery regiment, reviewed by Reuters, prohibited soldiers from joining protests or giving any political opinions on social media. "After finding political expressions that were not suitable, commanders are asked to consider and rectify accordingly and to explain the political situation correctly to troops," the message said. The army did not respond to a request for comment on the message. It is unclear if disaffection will affect the protests or the way the government responds to them. "While there is some disaffection within the armed forces, grumblings do not remain significant enough to constitute a significant faction," said Paul Chambers, a politics expert at Naresuan University in northern Thailand. Government spokesman Anucha Burapachaisri declined to comment on disaffection among members of the security forces or civil service, saying only that the country should be focused on dialogue between those with different views. PROTESTS SWELL Tens of thousands of people have protested in the streets of Thailand since July, calling for a new constitution and the removal of Prayuth, who led a military coup in 2014. Protesters have also demanded curbs on the powers of the king, until recently a taboo subject in a country where criticism of the monarchy is a crime. The army plays a pivotal role in Thailand, which has been ruled by serving or former military officers for more than two-thirds of the time since the end of absolute monarchy in 1932. Thailand´s army has seized power 13 times since then and has on several occasions been involved in bloody crackdowns on protesters including in 1973, 1976, 1992 and 2010. Although many of the coups have had the broad support of the armed forces, cracks in the military have been exposed in the past. During a bloody 2010 crackdown on red-shirted anti-government protesters in Bangkok, some green-uniformed soldiers openly sympathized with the demonstrators, tipping off the group´s leaders ahead of a planned army operation. They were dubbed "watermelons" - green on the outside with red sympathies on the inside. That same year, rogue general Khattiya Sawasdipol - known as "Seh Daeng" or "Commander Red" - was assassinated after he came out in support of anti-government protesters, showing that displays of disloyalty in the Thai military can be dangerous. "Security forces, especially those who have to confront the protesters, are in a stressful position," said Kiranee Tammapiban-udom of government consultancy Maverick Consulting Group. They have to follow orders but at the same time are branded "servants of tyranny" by protesters, she said. One protest leader, Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree, said he encouraged security forces to disobey orders. "Turn your backs to your commanders, the regime will collapse," he told Reuters. Another soldier who had also posted on social media said he was looking to defuse tension rather than escalate it. "Maybe it's time for the older generation to listen to the young," he said. "Asking Prayuth to quit and for changes to the constitution is not abolishing the monarchy." DRESS CODE: [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-thai-lan-bangkok-pattaya-5-ngay.html tour thái lan giá rẻ] YELLOW Some Thai police and civil servants are also questioning their roles. Many have been ordered to join official displays of loyalty to the crown, such as lining royal motorcade routes wearing yellow shirts - the king's colour. Police Colonel Kissana Phathanacharoen told Reuters such activities are part of police duty and that law enforcement was politically neutral. "Is this police work?" queried one police officer in an internal chat group, responding to a superior officer´s request in the group for participants to join a royal event. The superior officer responded in the chat group that he was passing on orders and that questions should be addressed to more senior levels. One document seen by Reuters, sent by the Bangkok Metropolitan Police to the Office of Police Strategy, a national body, requested "250 female police officers and 1,950 male along the route of the royal motorcade" for a funeral on Oct. 29 in Bangkok. "Dress code: yellow shirt with yellow collar. Long black pants, black shoes." Bangkok police spokesman Kissana said this was a normal police duty. "Basically, we are disguised as civilians," a female police officer in her late 20s from the Royal Thai Police told Reuters, asking to remain anonymous. "We´re told to wear yellow and shout 'Long live the king'." Protesters say police are easy to spot on such occasions because of their short haircuts. One 23-year-old civil servant complained at being ordered to attend a seminar to praise the works of the Chakri dynasty, of which Vajiralongkorn is the 10th king. "I can't do much, so I donate to the protesters," she told Reuters. (Reporting by Chayut Setboonsarng and Matthew Tostevin in Bangkok Editing by Bill Rigby)

Downfall Of Salim apos;s Business Partner As He apos;s Jailed For 11 YEARS

2020-12-31T07:25:17Z

StefanieKulakows:

Ahmed Jaghbir (right) is a former business partner of colourful Sydney personality Salim Mehajer, the pair briefly running a wedding planning business together. There's no suggestion Mehajer is in any way involved in this case Salim Mehajer's one-time business partner has been jailed for 11 years after he supplied hitmen with a key to an underworld figure's house, so they could execute him in bed with his mistress. Ahmed Jaghbir, 31, was sentenced on Wednesday over his role in the 2017 death of Hells Angels' associate Kemel 'Blackie' Barakat at his home in Sydney's south. Four armed assassins stormed Barakat's Mortlake unit as he slept with his secret lover, Fatima Hage, about 2.30am on March 10 that year. Barakat died in a hail of bullets and his masked killers have never been arrested or charged. Justice David Davies told the Supreme Court today that Jaghbir, a handyman, had played a major role in Barakat's death by betraying his bikie associate friend and supplying his killers with a key. '(Jaghbir's) role in providing the key was a significant one,' the judge told a packed but socially-distanced courtroom. Secret lover: Kemel Barakat was in bed with hairdresser Fatima Hage at the time of his shooting death on March 10, 2017. She gave a vivid statement to a court about the events of that night Love triangle: Barakat is seen above with his wife Amanda. She was overseas holidaying in Thailand at the time of her husband's killing RELATED ARTICLES [# Previous] [# 1] [# Next] [/news/article-8708051/Kemal-Blackie-Barakat-trial-Bikie-having-affair-bed-buddy-Fatima-Hage.html Glamorous woman was in bed with a married Sydney underworld...] [/news/article-8927493/Ahmed-Jaghbir-Fatima-Hages-police-statement-Kemel-Blackie-Barakat-assassination.html EXCLUSIVE: Crime kingpin's secret girlfriend re-lives the...] Share this article Share Barakat had turned to [http://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=Jaghbir&gs_l=news Jaghbir] for [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-thai-lan-bangkok-pattaya-5-ngay.html tour đi thái lan] help after his front door was busted by police during a raid days earlier. Jaghbir arranged to have the door replaced and supplied his friend Barakat with a new key. But Justice Davies was convinced Jaghbir also gave a key to someone else - one of the four hitmen - allowing the murderers to surprise Barakat at his Mortlake unit. Murdered: Hell's Angels associate Kemel Barakat was shot dead in his bed The assassins were already in Barakat's bedroom before he and the woman in his apartment, Fatima Hage, realised something was wrong, the judge said. Barakat was gunned down in his bed about 2.30am, reportedly pushing Ms Hage away before he was struck by a hail of bullets. CCTV footage showed his killers scrambling down the stairs and the burned-out husk of a getaway car was later found nearby in Belmore. At trial, the judge found that Barakat's secret lover Ms Hage was a 'credible' witness. They had been together for only a month, the court heard, and Barakat's wife, Amanda, was holidaying overseas in Thailand at their time of their liaison.. Ms Hage described the night of the assassination in simple, vivid terms in a statement tendered during the trial. She detailed how the room smelled 'like fire' after the bullets flew, Barakat's hushed final prayers in Arabic and the blood that trickled from his mouth at the end. Police found a burnt out car in Belmore shortly following Barakat's assassination in Mortlake, in Sydney's south The crime scene in Mortlake on March 10, 2017. Barakat's unit was on the second floor In her statement, Ms Hage recalled her confusion about the intruders in the room. 'I heard Kemel yell out "hey". I looked around but the room was pitch black. I could not see anything,' she said. 'I felt him push my head really hard. I didn't fall out of the bed but it moved me away from him. 'I then heard multiple gunshots. It was really loud, it smelled like fire in the room.' Kemel was coughing ... He said "I'm sorry" ... I said, "Don't be sorry" Fatima Hage giving [http://search.ft.com/search?queryText=evidence evidence] at trial Ms Hage said she closed her eyes and put her head down. 'At this point I knew I was going to die. 'I didn't hear anyone say anything, [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-thai-lan-bangkok-pattaya-5-ngay.html tour thái lan giá rẻ] I thought I was dead. 'About a minute went by and I moved from where I put my head down. 'I checked myself and I wasn't shot. I then moved over to Kemel. 'Kemel was coughing and [https://www.kynghidongduong.vn/tours/tour-thai-lan-bangkok-pattaya-5-ngay.html tour thái lan] he looked at me. 'He said: 'I'm sorry.' 'I said: "Don't be sorry ... Repeat after me". 'We then went through an Arabic prayer twice before Kemel stopped breathing. 'I turned on the light and saw Kemel lying on the bed. I saw he had blood coming out of his mouth. 'I remember seeing a bullet that looked like it had gone through his leg.' Ms Hage told the court she couldn't remember much else. She was in shock. 'I didn't know if whoever shot him was still in the house so I hid in the bathroom and called 000. 'I asked for ambulance. I can't remember what I said to them.' Ms Hage (on right in left picture, and in right photo) is seen after giving evidence at the trial of Ahmed Jaghbir earlier this year Ms Hage told the court earlier this year that Barakat had been 'anal' about security and their relationship had been a secret to everyone. 'No one knew about our relationship, we didn't want to tell anyone so our private lives remained private,' she said in her statement. Following a judge-alone trial, Justice Davies found Jaghbir guilty to the charge of procuring, aiding and counselling unknown persons to murder Barakat. On Wednesday, the judge said he had found no evidence of remorse from Jaghbir, who has always denied the charge. He said Jaghbir was not 'indispensable' to the murder plot - but his actions had helped the killers move 'expeditiously'. The judge said Jaghbir's role was 'no different to a tradesman taking advantage by spending time in someone's home, then conveying knowledge about the layout and where valuable items were kept to a prospective burglar.' He accepted there was not a lot of planning from Jaghbir, and that his role in the crime came about "fortuitously". Jaghbir was sentenced to an 11 year jail term, with a non-parole period of six years and six months. He will be eligible for release on April 9, 2027. The court heard he will be in protective custody 'because he is or might be in risk of retaliatory killings'. Jaghbir is on right, and is seen above with his lawyer Mahmoud Abbas at court during his trial. Jaghbir has been jailed for up to 11 years with a non parole period of six-and-a-half years

Benutzer:StefanieKulakows

2020-12-31T07:25:12Z

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