THAILAND: SUSPECTED JI MEMBERS FOUND NOT GUILTY

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 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