Thailand's new military junta summoned ousted government leaders on Friday after it seized power, as opponents of the coup engaged in a tense confrontation with soldiers enforcing martial law on the streets of Bangkok. The kingdom's tough-talking army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha deposed the civilian government on Thursday, the latest twist in years of escalating political turmoil in a move that drew a chorus of international criticism.
Former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was removed from office in a controversial court ruling earlier this month, was among more than three dozen prominent figures from both sides of Thailand's political divide summoned by the junta. She reported to a Bangkok army facility and had not been seen in public hours later. Yingluck's aide Wim Rungwattanajinda said the former premier was thought to have been taken to a military camp outside the capital, but the junta stayed silent on her whereabouts as well as those of others called in including her successor Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan.
A military source said army barracks had been prepared for people detained during the coup. Under the new regime civil liberties have been drastically curbed, most of the constitution suspended, and a night-time curfew imposed as the army cleared warring protesters from Bangkok's streets.
- 'Dictatorship's boots' -But in a sign of emerging disquiet on the streets, scores of demonstrators confronted and hurled abuse at soldiers in tense scenes Friday afternoon in the centre of the capital, amid other smaller protests. The army poured dozens of soldiers in to clear the area of the protesters, some of whom held protest signs with slogan such as "We will never lick dictatorship's boots."
Comments
Comments are closed.