Ministries asked to file charges against PDRC

BANGKOK, March 23 (TNA) - The caretaker government-run Centre for the Administration of Peace and Order (CAPO) has sent urgent letters ordering permanent secretaries of all affected ministries to file charges of intrusion and violation of freedom against anti-government protesters. CAPO Secretary-General Tharit Pengdit , who is also chief of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI), told journalists on Saturday that the CAPO has instructed permanent secretaries to take action against anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protesters within 24 hours. Tharit said the permanent secretaries will also be invited for a meeting next Monday. On the Constitution Court's Friday ruling to nullify the February 2 general election, Tharit revealed that the CAPO will, however, file charges against those who obstructed the national poll and will support a fresh general election, urging the EC to perform its duty with utmost efficiency so that the new general election could be held smoothly. Meanwhile, PDRC secretary-general SuthepThaugsuban announced that his group plans to organize a new mass rally soon to show its stance that the PDRC does not accept any election before a national reform, and that Caretaker Prime Minister and Defence Minister Yingluck Shinawatra must step down. A large group of pro-government red-shirt supporters, in the meantime, gathered at the 11th Infantry Regiment King's Guard in Bangkok's Bang Khen area on Saturday morning to demand that soldiers remain in the barracks, not support violence, refrain from staging a coup and support democracy. The red-shirts were then joining in a mass rally in Pattaya on Saturday evening. (TNA)