PM refuses to answer whether to issue an emergency decree to extend the statute of limitations in the Tak Bai case; Thawee sees it as violating the constitution

The Prime Minister declined to answer whether the emergency decree would extend the statute of limitations in the Tak Bai case after being pressed whether it would affect the confidence of the Pheu Thai government. Meanwhile, Thawee threw the question to Deputy Prime Minister Mankong, who viewed that an extension would violate the constitution because it would benefit only certain groups. He said it was normal to use the statute of limitations to escape the case. He was not worried about affecting the people's base of support. He praised NGOs and all parties for preparing to file a complaint with the International Court of Justice. Prime Minister Paethongtarn Shinawatra declined to comment on a proposal for the government to issue a royal decree or emergency decree to extend the statute of limitations for the dispersal of the protest in front of Tak Bai Police Station, which will expire on October 25, saying briefly, 'Let's wait for now.' Pol. Col. Thawee Sodsong, Minister of Justice, said that there is no conclusion at this time. He asked the Deputy Prime Minister who oversees security to ask. Normally, when issuing an emergency decree, there is a legal process. For any matter that is necessary, the constitution states that it will be issued for a specific group. For matters that are not general, there must be a study to see if it can be done or not. As for the statute of limitations for the case, will it be possible to issue an emergency decree in time? Pol. Col. Thawee stated that the statute of limitations is a matter of law. How can an emergency decree be greater than the law? He emphasized that he really does not know. You have to ask the Deputy Prime Minister for Security Affairs. As for yesterday's interview where he hoped for a miracle, will there be a miracle today? Pol. Col. Thawee stated that from what he knows, every agency is working to its fullest. Working in this manner, if we try, sometimes we can succeed. When asked if this meant receiving a good signal, or if the suspect had been contacted, Pol. Col. Thawee stated that he had not contacted them, but had been informed by several people who went to investigate. When asked again whether a miracle would happen, Pol. Col. Thawee reiterated that he had information about where he was, but when he went to verify it, he found that yesterday's news and today's news were not yet clear. However, he did not lose hope because there was still time. He had to work to his full potential. As for whether or not they are worried that it will affect the support base of the Prachachat Party in the three southern border provinces, Pol. Col. Thawee stated that today, don't worry about the support but worry about justice. It is one thing that society needs to look at from all sides because the justice process, which they say is slow, is injustice. But the hearts of the victims and their relatives, the compensation is also one thing that they don't want this to happen. If they can get their children or parents back, but when the incident has already happened, the justic e process will proceed according to the law at that time. As for the inspection when the statute of limitations is about to expire, everyone is worried. We will find a way to make the justice process move forward before the statute of limitations expires. Until starting in January 2024, in the last year, the attempt to expedite the justice process led to the issuance of an arrest warrant. As for the court ordering the police to make arrests, they are worried because the statute of limitations is running out. 'As for the offenders, it is normal that if they fight the case, it will take 10-20 years. If they see that there is a loophole in the statute of limitations, they have to hide. This is normal. It is not just civil servants. Today, we have more than 7,000 arrest warrants, but we have only been able to arrest 4,000. Most of them are security issues, so they hide until the arrest warrant expires. We do not say anything about this, but it is the government's responsibility to help arrest them.' And when th e reporter asked further that if they were not caught, what impact would it have on the government? Pol. Col. Thawee stated that if they were not caught, the case would just be past the statute of limitations. The democratic government must let the public know about what happened. He believes that the victim did not intend to hurt the person who had an arrest warrant issued against him, but as the family of the deceased, they want justice through the process. When asked again about the level of responsibility of the government if they could not make an arrest, Pol. Col. Thawee stated that the incident had already ended in many governments. The reason it ended in this government was because the government was responsible and did not want to let the matter expire. But when it comes to the justice process, we have the attorney general's message because it is an organization under the constitution. We cannot interfere. But the duty of the government, especially in this era, is to make the case until an arrest wa rrant can be issued. In the eyes of the public or relatives, they are proud that the public can issue an arrest warrant for the army commander. On the contrary, the public sees that many of his relatives have been issued arrest warrants, which is fair that the justice process can issue arrest warrants for civil servants. As for whether the issuance of arrest warrants is considered the work of the government, Pol. Col. Thawee said that it is not considered the work of the government, but it shows that it is dynamic. If there is a law that allows it to be done, we will do it. Even the issuance of an emergency decree, we have to study whether, if it is issued, it will extend the statute of limitations for only 8 people or 14 people, or extend the statute of limitations for more than 4,000 people who have been issued arrest warrants, which is a hundred thousand people, because it may be a law being issued for a particular person. If it can be done, we want to do it. Pol. Col. Thawee confirmed that the governmen t tried to restore justice to the victims of the Tak Bai case. Since the incident began, legal proceedings were being held. At that time, the autopsy was conducted to determine who the deceased was and who caused their death. Until 2009, the court did not rule and all the civil servants were transferred out of the area. This was different from the 99 corpses case. The court also stated that the gun came from the officers, but this case did not state who caused the death. Regarding this shortcoming, the police set up an investigation committee together with the Nong Chik Police Station in 2009 to find out why the case was not completed. This matter is considered a beautiful aspect of the law, where citizens can file their own lawsuits and filed in the 20th year. As for whether he was worried that the statute of limitations would expire in two days, Pol. Col. Thawee admitted that he was worried, but it was something the government had to protect all parties involved. We also felt sorry for our brothers and sis ters who were victims of the Tak Bai case, and the Prachachat Party was the one who raised this issue. Mr. Kamolsak Leewamae, a member of parliament for Narathiwat from the Prachachat Party, brought the matter to the committee on December 12, 2023, towards the end of Settha Thavisin's government, and various agencies were called in to explain that the case file was still flawed, as the police had not investigated without knowing who the perpetrators were, which had to be done within the 20 years of the statute of limitations. We did our duty there, and we did our duty to the best of our ability. For the observations in the case of Na Nod flour, who fled abroad and were still brought to justice, it is seen that the requirements of each country are different. In the case of Na Nod flour, the Ministry of Justice is the injured party. However, in this case, the Ministry is not the injured party, but has assigned the Director-General of the Department of Special Investigation to help support the information. Whi le the NGO group proposed to file a complaint with the International Court, Pol. Col. Thawee said that Ton would like to commend the NGO and all sectors that supported this matter because justice is the duty of everyone to participate. He also confirmed that the government is not worried because the government has not done anything to help anyone and is not biased in helping anyone. Furthermore, he wants to enter the justice process. We always think that we use the justice process as the final goal. When asked whether it would be linked to the Thai Rak Thai government, even though it happened during the Pheu Thai government, but now it is the Pheu Thai government, Pol. Col. Thawee said that everything, when the truth is revealed, the evil will disappear. Source: Thai News Agency