Thailand's anti-government protest leader freed on bail

BANGKOK, February 13 (TNA) - The Criminal Court has ordered the release on bail of an anti-government protest leader, Sonthiyan Chuenruethainaitham, while the Civil Court has prohibited Thailand's caretaker government from freezing bank accounts of another protest leader. The Criminal Court made the order on Thursday, stating that police had detained Sonthiyan for four days and sufficiently questioned him; so, a requested detention extension was unnecessary. Sonthiyan, a leader of the anti-government People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), was brought by the police to the Criminal Court on Thursday morning to seek the court's approval for his longer detention, after he was arrested on February 10 allegedly for violating the emergency decree, imposed for 60 days in all areas in Bangkok and some areas in peripheral provinces since January 22, and his first seven-day detention period under the emergency decree will end on February 16. But Sonthiyan told the court that he had the constitutional right to join demonstrations and he did not violate the emergency decree, asking the court to release him because he must handle many businesses. Police earlier opposed his release, reasoning that Sonthiyan had led demonstrators to block polling units. Meanwhile, the Civil Court ruled in a case that another PDRC leader, Dr. Seri Wongmontha, sought its protection from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI)’s decision to freeze his seven bank accounts for suspecting him of sponsoring the PDRC's movements. The court ordered that the DSI stop freezing Dr. Seri's bank accounts, saying it finds out that the bank accounts contain small sums and do not show any unusual movement of money. As the PDRC plans to escalate its protests from Februray 14-16, Royal Thai Police Spokesman Police Major General Piya Uthayo told journalists that National Police Chief Police General Adul Saengsingkaew has instructed his subordinates to be ready to cope with the PDRC's movements and to refrain from using force against demonstrators. According to the spokesman, the national police chief has ordered police to emphasize on maintaining order, guaranteeing public safety and facilitating traffic as usual.(TNA)