Yala court sets four Islamic teachers free
A court in Yala yesterday released four of the 18 Islamic religious teachers held for the past two weeks under the Emergency Decree following a meeting in Satun province regarded as suspicious by the authorities.
An aid worker familiar with the case said the decision to release the four came on the day the Muslim Lawyers Association petitioned the court to release all 18 on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Detention of the remaining 14 teachers and one boat operator is entering its third week but the police have not issued any formal charges against them. The police would not comment about the detention, saying only that they had acted in accordance with the mandate granted to them under the controversial decree. All the teachers are from the Thammawitthaya School in Yala whose co-founder Spae-ing Baso is on the run amidst a swirl of accusations that he is behind the violence that has plagued the region. The private Islamic school (pondok) came under the international spotlight when the government two years ago accused a number of its teachers of orchestrating violent attacks in the region. More than 1,100 people have died in the region over the past two years in violent attacks and the government's heavy-handed reaction to them. Late Thursday one person was killed and injured in separate shooting incidents in Pattani, police said. At about 10pm, Pornchai Sutthisang was shot dead after he tried to help a friend involved in a quarrel with two unnamed people in Muang district. The 44 year old was returning home when he got involved in the quarrel sparked by a road accident involving a friend and the two gunmen. The quarrel escalated and the two gunmen started shooting. Pornchai's friend managed to escape. Bayuni Jeloh, 37, was shot while riding his motorcycle at about 8.45pm on Thursday. Police suspect a few gunmen fired at him with AK-47s from the roadside. He was shot in the stomach and left leg. He is recovering at Pattani Hospital.
The Nation Pattani
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