Torture claims void for Thai bomb trial

BANGKOK — A Thai military court on Tuesday rejected allegations by two Uighur defendants that they were tortured in custody to confess to bombing a popular Hindu shrine in Bangkok last year that left 20 people dead. The court then postponed the rest of the hearing until next month because no Uighur-language translator was available.

In previous preliminary hearings, the two men, who are from the Uighur-speaking region of China, said they were tortured and mistreated by their jailers in military detention, and on Tuesday pleaded to be moved to a different lockup.

“After investigating these claims, the court finds them to be false, and the defendants will remain where they are, since this is a case of national security,” one of the three judges on the panel ruled.

The judges, who have not been identified in keeping with protocol in military trials, said the defendants’ safety may be at risk in a regular jail because of the high-profile nature of the case, and that they were safer in military detention.

The ruling came on what was to be the first day of the trial of the two ethnic Uighurs of Chinese nationality. But the opening day, which was set aside for recording witness testimonies, got off to a shaky start when the court realized that there was no Uighur-language translator available.

The hearings were then postponed to Sept. 15-16 while authorities try to find a translator.

The two defendants — Mieraili Yusufu and Bilal Mohammad, also known as Adem Karadag — have pleaded innocent. At a recent pretrial appearance they broke down in tears alleging mistreatment and torture by Thai authorities.

They are the only two men in custody out of the 17 people that authorities say were responsible for the Aug. 17, 2015, bombing of the Erawan shrine in Bangkok’s Ratchaprasong shopping district.

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