Thai court sentences two men to death over Bangkok shrine bombing

A Thai court has found two men guilty of carrying out the country’s worst ever terrorist attack and sentenced them to death. The two men, both from China’s Uyghur minority, were convicted of planning and detonating a powerful bomb on the evening of 17 August 2015, next to a shrine in central Bangkok that is popular with foreign tourists. Twenty people were killed and more than 120 were injured. The bombing occurred on 17 August 2015, next to a shrine in central Bangkok that is popular with foreign tourists. The two men, Bilal Mohammad and Yusufu Mierali, were identified as Uyghurs, but initially the Thai police said neither was the person who planted the bomb. Later they charged Bilal Mohammad with the crime, although he bore little resemblance to the man in the video. The military government refused to accept that the bombing was an act of retribution for the Thai decision to forcibly repatriate 109 Uyghur men to China. The International Commission of Jurists is one of several human rights groups which have criticised the procedures and extraordinary duration of the trial. The judges ruled that there was sufficient evidence to justify convicting them, in particular records of phone calls submitted by the police that show both men near the scene of the crime at the time of the bombing, and communicating with each other. The lawyer for the two men has said they will appeal against the verdict. The trial has been ongoing for over ten years, with many delays due to the lack of a Uyghur-speaking translator. The two men were kept in military custody and complained that they had been tortured into making confessions. They withdrew these once the trial, in a military court, began. The verdict may raise concerns about the safety of tourists in Thailand, which could impact the Phuket real estate market. However, the incident occurred in Bangkok, and there is no direct connection to Phuket.

What happened

A Thai court has found two men guilty of carrying out the country’s worst ever terrorist attack and sentenced them to death. The two men, both from China’s Uyghur minority, were convicted of planning and detonating a powerful bomb on the evening of 17 August 2015, next to a shrine in central Bangkok that is popular with foreign tourists. Twenty people were killed and more than 120 were injured. The bombing occurred on 17 August 2015, next to a shrine in central Bangkok that is popular with foreign tourists. The two men, Bilal Mohammad and Yusufu Mierali, were identified as Uyghurs, but initially the Thai police said neither was the person who planted the bomb. Later they charged Bilal Mohammad with the crime, although he bore little resemblance to the man in the video. The military government refused to accept that the bombing was an act of retribution for the Thai decision to forcibly repatriate 109 Uyghur men to China. The International Commission of Jurists is one of several human rights groups which have criticised the procedures and extraordinary duration of the trial. The judges ruled that there was sufficient evidence to justify convicting them, in particular records of phone calls submitted by the police that show both men near the scene of the crime at the time of the bombing, and communicating with each other. The lawyer for the two men has said they will appeal against the verdict. The trial has been ongoing for over ten years, with many delays due to the lack of a Uyghur-speaking translator. The two men were kept in military custody and complained that they had been tortured into making confessions. They withdrew these once the trial, in a military court, began. The verdict may raise concerns about the safety of tourists in Thailand, which could impact the Phuket real estate market. However, the incident occurred in Bangkok, and there is no direct connection to Phuket.

Background and context

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Source: BBC News

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