The conviction of a senior Army officer was an extremely rare event in junta-ruled Thailand. “The defendant worked with others to facilitate human trafficking,” read the verdict against Manas, who was found to have played a key role in a transnational crime organisation. The court spent all of Wednesday reading a 500-page verdict on 102 defendants charged with trafficking migrants, most of whom were ethnic Rohingya people from Myanmar and Bangladesh. The court found that Manas, Police Colonel Charn U-thong and Pol Sub-Lieutenant Narathon Samphan were guilty of human trafficking and organising a transborder crime syndicate. The court also found another high-profile defendant, Pajjuban Aungkachotephan, guilty of human trafficking, organising a cross-border crime syndicate and bringing illegal migrants into the Kingdom.

Source: The Nation Bangkok July 19, 2017 13:29 UTC