BANGKOK, 26 April 2014 – The Center for the Administration of Peace and Order (CAPO) is considering using special forces to arrest People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) leaders, should violence again emerge during political demonstrations.
The CAPO director, Pol. Capt. Chalerm Yubamrung, indicated that continuing assaults such as the grenade attacks on the Supreme Administrative Court and newspaper firm the Daily News were pushing CAPO closer to adopting resolute measures to arrest PDRC leaders. This would involve using special forces personnel. He asserted that the demonstrations have not been weapons-free. Therefore such a move by authorities would not constitute a dispersal of protesters, according to Pol. Capt. Chalerm.
The CAPO director touched on the incident in which an Army colonel was shot and then assaulted by PDRC guards after he tried to move traffic cones in the vicinity of the PDRC’s Chaeng Watthana rally site to make space for his car to enter. Pol. Capt. Chalerm indicated that the PDRC guards have obviously been stockpiling weapons, and it was clear the political demonstration by the PDRC was not a peaceful protest. He also urged the public to avoid the Chaeng Watthana rally site in Bangkok for their own safety.
The CAPO director also called on leaders of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) to avoid rallying their supporters to protest over the killing of UDD writer and poet Kamon Phasuk, as such an expression of hatred would further escalate current conflicts.
