Unsurprisingly people began to link the bomb to the controversial Thai decision the month before to forcibly repatriate 109 Uyghur men to China, which provoked angry protests by Uyghur sympathisers in countries like Turkey. The shrine was well known as especially popular with Chinese visitors. It looked like an act of retribution.
But the military government refused to accept this possibility. At one point they suggested it might be disgruntled opponents of the military junta which had seized power the year before. Later they insisted that it was just human traffickers angry at the government’s efforts to shut down their activities.
In a bizarre twist the police offered a reward of $80,000 to anyone who led them to the culprits – then awarded it to themselves once they had their first two suspects in custody, despite acknowledging that many more suspects were still at large. Case closed, they said.
Both suspects were kept in military custody, and complained that they had been tortured into making confessions. They withdrew these once the trial, in a military court, began.
Bilal Mohammad appeared to be extremely distressed, shouting that he was being mistreated . He testified that he had been waiting at the house where he was apprehended for a smuggler to move him to Malaysia, from where he wanted to fly to Turkey, a well-established route used by Uyghur asylum-seekers.
Then the delays began. Usually it was because the Thai authorities said they could not find a Uyghur-speaking translator. The defendants rejected those offered by the Chinese embassy. The delays went on and on, for more than ten years.
The International Commission of Jurists is one of several human rights groups which have criticised the procedures and extraordinary duration of the trial, arguing that it was so problematic the two suspects should have been released.
“The investigation, prosecution, and trial of Bilal Mohammed and Yusufu Mieraili have been rife with human rights violations and have exposed some of the systemic deficiencies of Thailand’s criminal justice system.”
The lawyer for the two men has said they will appeal against the verdict.