Mer åsikter angående hur militärjuntan blir alltmer auktoritär, och om farorna med att låta militären bli poliskår. Som BKK-post själva konstaterar har de i många ledare varit mycket kritiska mot poliskåren, och drivit opinion för att den måste reformeras. Men två fel blir dubbelt så mycket fel enligt ledaren. På svenska hade vi väl sagt "två fel gör inte ett rätt". Och skulle ngn militär göra fel i sitt utövande av det polisiära yrket, så har han/hon tydligen åtalsimmunitet, vilket väl borde uppröra många av MPR:s politiska skribenter?:
In the dark on army's shadowy powers
"Estimates vary, but two wrongs tend to make things twice as wrong. As bad at the Royal Thai Police have been, and this newspaper has been a strident critic of their myriad failings, the junta’s unilateral decision last week to turn soldiers, sailors and airmen into the nation’s second, shadow police force is extremely troubling.
Under a Section 44 order signed by junta chief Prayut Chan-o-cha on Tuesday that came into immediate effect, officers ranked sub-lieutenant and above have broad powers to suppress and arrest anyone they suspect of criminal activity, without a warrant, and detain them secretly without charge for up to seven days at almost any location. Bank accounts can be frozen, and documents and property can be seized. Also problematic is that automatic immunity has been built into the order, and there is nothing by way of independent oversight. Should cases against suspects fail to proceed, no recourse is available.
Along with the broad powers, some of the wording is worryingly vague. “There are people whose behaviour and wrongdoings are considered crimes. They threaten the country's economy and society,” the order says. What behaviours and who considers them crimes are unwritten, and what threat they pose to the nebulous notion of society is unclear: it will be for the military regime and its soldiers on the ground to interpret and implement these rules as they see fit.
Big Brother Prawihts uttalande om att det hela ordern beror på att poliskåren skulle vara underbemannad ger man heller inte mycket för. Prawits uttalanden börjar för övrigt bli konstigare än Prauyths...;
"The idea there are not enough police also doesn’t pass the smell test. There are about 230,000 officers in the force, and they make up 17% of the non-military public service. There are 344 police for every 100,000 people in Thailand, more than twice the ratio Myanmar and the Philippines have, one and a half times Japan and Indonesia and roughly the same proportion as the United States. The force is undoubtedly riddled with problems, but a lack of staff is not one of them."
Man konstaterar också den goda timingen, orden utfärdad samtidigt som nya konstitutionen släppts, och sedan det blivit brottsligt att inneha röda skålar med budskap från Lord Voldemort:
"It is impossible to ignore the timing or the context of the order, coming on the same day the draft constitution was released and in the same week former MPs were detained. Weeklong intensive attitude adjustment “courses” were announced for those who repeatedly defy junta orders. A woman was charged with sedition for posing with a red plastic Songkran bowl bearing a message from fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, and a journalist from Thai Rath was arrested and interrogated for writing about it.
As for the police themselves, the leadership has been curiously AWOL. A police spokesman on Wednesday backed Gen Prawit’s assertion there were not enough officers, but the silence from the chief and his deputies has been noticeable.
Too much about the reasoning behind order remains murky. But what is clear is turning the army into a shadow police force is the most disturbing development since the coup.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/919337/in-the-dark-on-armys-shadowy-powers