US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK3592

C O N F I D E N T I A L BANGKOK 003592 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR EAP/BCLTV 
PACOM FOR FPA (HUSO) 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/31/2015 
TAGS: PGOV, PREL, PTER, TH, Southern Thailand 
SUBJECT: THAILAND: SUSPECTED JI MEMBERS FOUND NOT GUILTY 
 
 
Classified By: Political Counselor Robert J. Clarke. Reason 1.4 (b,d) 
 
1.  (C)  Maisuri Haji Abdulloh and three other suspected Thai 
Jemaah Islamayah (JI) members on trial in Bangkok on charges 
of plotting to bomb Western embassies and other targets in 
Thailand were found "not guilty" on June 1 in a Bangkok 
court.  One of the defense attorneys, Witthaya Buranasin of 
the Muslim Lawyers association, confirmed to Emboffs that all 
charges were dropped by the Bangkok Criminal Court. 
According to Witthaya, the four were found not guilty based 
on a lack of evidence.  The testimony of the prosecution's 
key witness in the case, Singaporean citizen Arifin bin Ali, 
was thrown out by the judge. 
 
2.  (SBU)  The trial has drawn widespread international 
attention from human rights groups because the defendants' 
first attorney, Somchai Neelaphaijit -- a prominent Muslim 
Lawyer and human rights activist -- disappeared during the 
opening stages of the trial after he accused RTG security 
forces of torturing the defendants.  The direct role of Thai 
police in Somchai's disappearance is widely accepted. 
Currently, five police officers are facing charges for 
involvement in the lawyer's disappearance. 
 
3.  (SBU)  Despite the "not guilty" verdict, the accused 
remain in custody under court order.  According to Thai law, 
the prosecutors are obligated to file an appeal within 30 
days of a "not guilty" verdict, sending the case to an 
appeals court for review.  If the defendants are again found 
"not guilty" by the appeals court, the prosecution will have 
the option to appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. 
Attorneys for the defendants -- who have been in detention 
since 2003 -- have filed a request for bail. 
 
4.  (C)  COMMENT: Based on the way the RTG initially pursued 
the case, we expect that the government will do its best on 
preparations for the appeals hearing and will move the case 
to the Supreme Court if the defendants are found "not guilty" 
again during the second hearing.  Prime Minister Thaksin had 
personally trumpeted the arrests of the four accused JI 
members, which came shortly before his visit to the U.S. in 
2003.  Thaksin and others in the government probably will see 
this verdict as a serious loss of face. 
 
5.  (C)  COMMENT CONTINUED:  On the other hand, the Thai 
political atmosphere on the southern situation has changed 
since the defendants were initially detained and the RTG may 
decide that it cannot improve its case. Embassy contacts at 
the Law Society of Thailand told Poloff that there was no 
real evidence presented in the trial that could legitimately 
tie the defendants to a plot to bomb embassies in Bangkok -- 
no plans were found, and the one witness was determined to be 
not credible. The government had claimed that other witnesses 
were available, but could not produce any for the trial.  The 
Law Society told us they will make a strong push for bail to 
be granted.  A denial of bail will undoubtedly upset Muslims 
in southern Thailand who generally believe Maisuri and the 
other defendants are innocent, and who view the apparent 
abduction of the lawyer Somchai as symbolic of government 
abuses against southern Muslims.  END COMMENT 
BOYCE