A Deep South civil society group has called for the immediate release of its Muslim Malay chairperson after the authorities detained him for three days. He is suspected of being involved in a bombing at a Yala market.
On 24 February 2018, the Deep South civil society organisation Justice for Peace (JOP) issued a statement calling for the immediate release of its chairperson Aiman Hadeng.
The military arrested him on 23 February at his shop in Yala. His wife (name withheld due to privacy concerns) stated that the soldiers also confiscated his mobile phones and searched the shop but found nothing. The authorities suspected that Aiman was involved in the recent bombing of a Yala market which killed three people and injured nine.
Aiman has been detained at a paramilitary camp in Yala for over three days, and the authorities have not officially informed him of any charge.
This is the second time that the authorities have detained the JOP chairperson. In 2015, Muhammad Yaki, a former chairperson, was arrested after the bombing at a department store on Samui Island, Surat Thani Province. The authorities suspected him since he had previously been accused of being involved in another bombing in 2013.
The JOP has urged the authorities to release Aiman immediately and to stop their harassment of former suspects in national security crimes.
Mayu Chena, the coordinator of the Civil Society Network for Peace, said he believes that the reason for Aiman’s arrest is that he had been a suspect in another Yala bombing. In 2007, he was imprisoned for alleged involvement in a 2007 bombing in Yala, but a court ruled that he was innocent.
“Recently, whenever an incident happens, the authorities will detain those who have been subject to warrants or who have been prosecuted. This group will be first to be targeted as suspects,” Mayu explained.
The campaign by the JOP calling for the release of Iman (Photo from the JOP)
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