Wednesday, April 7, 2010

State of Emergency

Today the Prime Minister declared a state of emergency due to some red shirt protesters invading parliament and disrupting the proceedings.  The MP's and cabinet ministers retreated for their safety.

The state of emergency of emergency gives the government broad powers to temporarily (hopefully) suspend some civil liberties.  It allows the army to detain suspects for up to thirty days without a trial, prohibit news coverage deemed to threaten the public interest, impose curfews and prohibit public gatherings.



In related news, the red shirts are refusing to retreat from either their original protest base of the Phan Fa Bridge, or their new one at the Ratchaprasong intersection.  The government has already issued criminal summons for ten of the red shirt leaders and promises legal action against those who break the law.  Meanwhile, the head of the army has declared that under the current circumstances, the army will not use force to remove the protesters.

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