SunStar Publishing Inc.
BANGKOK — A court in Thailand on Thursday acquitted a Thai woman who had been charged with involvement in a 2015 bombing at a shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people and injured 120.Wanna Suansan was one of three people apprehended out of 17 suspects who authorities said were responsible for the blast at Erawan Shrine, a popular tourist destination, particularly for visitors from China.
The Bangkok Southern Criminal Court ruled that there was not enough evidence to link her to the bombing.The two others being tried separately are ethnic Uyghurs, a Muslim minority in China that has suffered repression. All three were charged with a variety of offenses, including murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of explosive materials.The two Uyghurs were arrested in 2015 shortly after the bombing on Aug. 17. Wanna was arrested later when she voluntarily returned to Thailand from Turkey in 2017 to turn herself in when she was named as a suspect.Thai authorities have said the bombing was revenge by a people-smuggling gang whose activities had been disrupted by the police. Thailand cracked down on human traffickers earlier in 2015 after abandoned camps for Rohingyas fleeing persecution in Myanmar and economic migrants from Bangladesh were found in the jungles along the Thai-Malaysia border. However, some analysts suspect the bombing was the work of Uyghur separatists angry that Thailand had forcibly repatriated scores of Uyghurs to China in July that year. Many Uyghurs try to escape persecution and tight control in China with the help of professional smugglers. The shrine’s popularity among Chinese tourists lent support to the theory that the bombing had a political element.While the two other suspects, Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammad, were allegedly linked by video, DNA and other evidence to the bombing, the case against Wanna was more circumstantial.Wanna, 36, was accused of leasing accommodation for the alleged bombers. Police said they found gunpowder, fertilizer and other bomb-making materials in an apartment in outer Bangkok that was leased under Wanna’s name.The judge on Thursday said there was not enough evidence indicating that Wanna had committed a crime as she was charged.She said prosecutors could not provide evidence that Wanna was present at the site of the bombing, had brought the other suspects there or helped them escape. There was also no evidence that she had contact with them or helped them acquire explosive materials that were found in the apartment, which she was alleged to have rented for the suspects, the judge said. / AP
Philippines Latest News, Philippines Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
98 kandidato nisumiter og COCsSunStar Publishing Inc.
Read more »
1,265 ka mga kandidato sa Lalawigan sa SugboSunStar Publishing Inc.
Read more »
Over 1,000 security personnel deployed for MassKara FestivalSunStar Publishing Inc.
Read more »
Negros Occidental, 3 LGUs win 7 major Pearl Awards in tourismSunStar Publishing Inc.
Read more »
US confirms North Korea has sent 3,000 troops to Russia for training and possible Ukraine combatSunStar Publishing Inc.
Read more »
Council proposes fee increase for meat servicesSunStar Publishing Inc.
Read more »