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THE NATION: Police arrest Sulak a
- Subject: THE NATION: Police arrest Sulak a
- From: suriya@xxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Fri, 06 Mar 1998 19:42:00
Politics
Police arrest Sulak and
clear Yadana site
Civil rights activist Sulak Sivaraksa and
about 50 other demonstrators opposing the
Yadana gas pipeline in Kanchanaburi were
arrested yesterday after police used water
cannon to break up their protest.
Sulak was charged with obstructing state
officials while the others were released
after being questioned by Kanchanaburi
governor Direk Uthaiphol.
Last night Sulak was still being detained at
Thong Pha Phum police station after he
refused to arrange bail for himself.
Police moved into the protest site at KP28
along the pipeline at around 2.30 pm to ask
Sulak and the protesters to move away.
They finally used water cannon from fire
trucks to disperse the group and local
authorities secured the site.
Earlier the project developer, the Petroleum
Authority of Thailand (PTT), had formally
complained to police that Sulak and the
protesters, mostly students, were violating
the Petroleum Act by blocking construction
of the pipeline.
Police moved into the protesters' camp site
and ''invited Sulak to talk with the governor''
but did not immediately issue any arrest
warrants, Pipob Udomittipong, an
associate of Sulak, said.
''The governor simply pointed to the
students and told the police to arrest them
without even charging them with a crime,''
Pipob said. ''They were treated very
un-democratically.''
The Union For Civil Liberty, a pro-human
rights group, issued an open letter
denouncing the police action, saying it
violated the principle of basic rights and the
Constitution.
The president of the PTT's natural gas
operations, Piti Yimprasert, said the state
oil company did not ask police to arrest the
protesters. He said officials simply went to
Thong Pha Phum and Jarakhe Puak police
stations and accused Sulak of blocking
construction.
''We only wanted to show the Burmese
government and gas production consortium
that we are not ignoring the protesters,'' Piti
said.
Piti was not surprised to learn of Sulak's
detention yesterday.
''It's very good news,'' he said. ''That means
we can go ahead and start construction.''
Police have closed off the road which
provides access to the protest site at Ban
Huay Pak Kok, although workers for the
contractor building the pipeline were
allowed to pass through the checkpoint,
according to Pipob.
A committee set up by the prime minister to
review the project concluded last week that
the PTT had failed to carry it out with
transparency, and recommended that its
environmental impact be closely monitored.
But Pipob claimed the workers building the
pipeline do not seem to care about
protecting wildlife.
''We saw many Royal Crabs [a rare,
endemic species] being destroyed,'' he
said. ''It seems the committee's
recommendations are not being heeded at
all.''
Pipob warned a confrontation was brewing
between the authorities and villagers at Ban
Jarakhe Puak, many of whom oppose the
project.
Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said
Sulak's detention and the removal of his
supporters from the site KP28 had averted
a possible clash between his group and
around 200 proponents of the project who
had moved to the site.
BY JAMES FAHN and PENNAPA
HONGTHONG
The Nation