Thai Deputy PM agrees to be probed for April 10 Red Shirts crackdown

Bangkok, May 11 (ANI): Thailand's Deputy Prime Minister, Suthep Thaugsuban, will meet Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Pengdit today over charges connected to the April 10 crackdown on Red Shirt protesters.

The Bangkok Post quoted acting government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn, as saying that Suthep's decision came after the opposition United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) had set out its own conditions on ending the long drawn out and often violent Red shirts' protest.

One of the conditions was that Suthep report to police to face charges over whether he was involved in the bloody crackdown on the red shirts last month.

Panitan said Suthep and Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva met to discuss the UDD demand yesterday and it was decided the deputy premier would turn himself in.

Suthep has stepped down as a member of parliament and does not have parliamentary immunity.

Tharit said Suthep wanted to prove his innocence in the courts in the hope that this would satisfy the UDD conditions and break the political deadlock.

However, UDD leader Natthawut Saikua said Suthep should report to the police instead of the DSI, as he had reservations about the role of Tharit, who is a member of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation, which was supervised by Suthep.

Natthawut said if Suthep surrenders to the police, the nine UDD key leaders wanted on arrest warrants for violating the emergency rule decree will also report to police earlier than their original May 15 schedule.

The UDD also demanded that Suthep and Abhisit face criminal charges over the violent crackdown on April 10. (ANI)