Two anti-government protesters were sentenced to two years in prison without suspension today (Wednesday), after they were found guilty by the Criminal Court of attempting to set fire to a police tow truck.
The incident occurred during a protest by about 600 people against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha at the Victory Monument in Bangkok on August 11th, 2021.
As the protesters were marching from the Victory Monument to the prime minister’s residence in military barracks on Vibhavadi Rangsit Highway, via the Din Daeng intersection, they were blocked by crowd control police.
The protesters hurled missiles at the police, while some of them set fire to a police tow truck at Din Daeng intersection. Two protesters, identified as Sakda Udomsri and Kanphirom Butkote, were arrested and charged with assault and arson.
During the trial, the court was presented with a video clip by the police, showing the two defendants hurling burning missiles at the tow truck. The fire was extinguished.
Other protesters were also reported to have hurled similar missiles at the truck.
Since the prosecutors did not have sufficient evidence to prove that the missiles hurled by the two defendants caused the fire which damaged the tow truck, the court ruled that it could not convict them of torching the truck, but found them guilty of attempted arson.
