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Dutch lawyer to help exiled Thai leader

A leading Dutch lawyer has agreed to help defend former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra against terrorism charges related to the recent unrest in Bangkok. Geert-Jan Knoops will also look into whether the Thai government committed human rights abuses when it raided the “red-shirts” protest camp.

Thai soldiers stormed a camp set up by the red-shirt protestors last month in central Bangkok. The raid followed days of violence in the capital and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has accused Mr Thaksin of inciting the resulting clashes. War crimes expert Geert-Jan Knoops will advise the legal team defending the exiled former leader, who has denied any involvement:

“My understanding is that Mr Thaksin denies this charge, and it’s my understanding that the facts of the case contradict this allegation. I’ve not seen yet the official arrest warrant for the charges, but apart from all these procedural issues it’s far from clear, on the basis of what evidence, or what facts the Thai government or the Thai prosecution thinks Mr Thaksin was wilfully behind these demonstrations.”

Geert-Jan Knoops is well-known in the international legal community, and has worked on cases relating to rights violations in Rwanda, former Yugoslavia and Sierra Leone. As well as providing advice for Mr Thaksin’s defence, the team is also considering bringing charges against the Thai government:

“One of the issues we are currently legally investigating is the qualification of the acts of the Thai officials versus the red-shirts - what qualification can you attach to those actions. The reports which have been issued, also by Amnesty International and other international organisations, are quite alarming on what happened there. And I’ve been made aware that, also within other governments, there’s quite some concern about how the military dealt with these events. On its face it seems that human rights violations have occurred there.”

Mr Thaksin has been in hiding since being ousted from power in 2006 but could face the death penalty if extradited to Thailand to stand trial. Mr Knoops says it’s “obvious” he would fight any deportation order, because the Thai government may not even be able to mount a case against him.

“If the evidence is not clear, or if there’s no evidence at all, I think Mr Thaksin would fight any potential extradition request which may arise. Furthermore of course it’s really a question whether there’s sufficient ground for any prosecution.”

The Thai government has allegedly called in Interpol to help try and track Mr Thaksin down.

http://www.rnw.nl/english/article/dutch-lawyer-help-exiled-thai-leader

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