The Narathiwat Provincial Court has issued an arrest warrant for Pheu Thai MP Gen Pisarn Wattanawongkiri, formerly the Fourth Army Region commander, one of the seven officials facing trial for the 25 October 2004 Tak Bai Massacre, which resulted in the death of 85 people.

The Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF) said that the warrant, dated 1 October, was issued on the grounds that Gen Pisarn is a flight risk since he did not come to court during the first court hearing on 12 September and did not attend a parliamentary session on the same day. He also did not inform the court of why he was unable to attend the hearing and did not ask for a postponement.

Gen Pisarn is among the 7 officials facing trial for the Tak Bai Massacre after a lawsuit was filed against them by 48 people who lost family members in the Massacre for murder by torture or acts of cruelty, coercion, unlawful detention, and malfeasance. The lawsuit was accepted on 22 August.

None of the officials came to court on 12 September, so the Narathiwat Provincial Court issued arrest warrants for 6 of them, ordering police and court marshals to arrest them on sight and bring them to court before the statute of limitations expires on 25 October.

An arrest warrant was initially not issued for Pisarn, since he was presumed to have immunity as an MP, precluding the possibility of his arrest, detention, or questioning while parliament is in session. The Court instead issued an urgent request to the House Speaker for his arrest, along with another summons.

Gen Pisarn, meanwhile, took a leave of absence from parliament. Citing House of Representatives secretary Apat Sukhanand, Krungthep Thurakij reported that Gen Pisarn requested a leave between 26 August – 30 October to seek medical treatment overseas.  The leave was reportedly approved by Pheu Thai MP and deputy house speaker Pichet Chuamuangphan.

Apat acknowledged that parliament received a letter from the Secretary-General of the Office of the Judiciary requesting that Gen Pisarn be released to face trial, and informed the court that it was free to take whatever measures were deemed necessary, provided the general was allowed to attend parliamentary sessions.

In a  Facebook post, Fair Party MP Kannavee Suebsang questioned why Gen Pisarn’s leave request was approved. Remarking that the general appears to have left the country three days after the Narathiwat Provincial Court accepted the lawsuit, he demanded that Pichet explain why Gen Pisarn was allowed to remain on leave until 30 October, by which time the statute of limitations for charges in the Tak Bai Massacre will have expired.

Phumtham Wechayachai, deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, stressed that the trial is Gen Pisarn’s personal affair, adding that the Pheu Thai Party was not obliged to make him go to court. He said the party would follow parliament’s decision and noted that the police were free to arrest the general.

He also said he had not discussed the matter with Gen Pisarn personally as he had not been able to reach him.  In the event he did, he said he would advise the general to follow the judicial procedure and go to court, since he should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.