Eighty five people suffocated after being arrested and packed into military trucks to be taken to Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district. (Bangkok Post file photo)Human rights defender Angkhana Neelaphaijit on Monday called for improvements in the country's justice system and for the political willpower to hold to account those responsible for the deaths of more than 80 Muslim protesters in Tak Bai in 2004. The Tak Bai incident took place on Oct 25, 2004, when 85 Muslim protesters died, mostly from suffocation, while being transported on military trucks. "The families of the victims and the Tak Bai residents filed lawsuits to seek justice but it turned out all the cases were dropped by the prosecutors who were supposed to administer justice," she said. "In this Tak Bai case, we have three years to bring the case to court to have the truth revealed and established, to return justice to the victims."

Source: Bangkok Post October 26, 2021 03:13 UTC