BANGKOK, Nov 25 – Two Chinese Uighurs were officially indicted at the Military Court here on Tuesday, on their alleged role in a bomb blast near the Erawan shrine in Bangkok on Aug 17. Mohammed Bilal, 30, and Yusufu Mieraili face 10 charges, including pre-meditated murder and attempted murder.
Mohammed Bilal, also known as Adem Karadeg, had reportedly confessed during the police investigations that he was the yellow-shirted person who seen on closed-circuit television, as leaving with a backpack near the Erawan Shrine before the bomb blast on Aug 17.
“The authorities are currently looking for 15 people who are linked to the bomb blast. Meanwhile, there was a snag over obtaining testimony. We did not have an opportunity to talk about their motives (for the attack) and mainly discussed the issue of the interpreter,” lawyer Schuchart Kanpai who represented Mohammed Bilal said.
Mohammed Bilal could not understand English and as such, refused the appointed interpreter (from English to Thai), Schuchart explained to reporters. He said an Uzbek, Bakhadirov Srojiddin, appointed by Mohammed Bilal to be his interpreter (Thai to Uighur) was opposed by prosecutors due to lack of background information on him.
The interpreter issue only affected Mohammed Bilal because Yusufu has accepted an interpreter (Thai to English), he added. Schuchart said the military court had scheduled a pre-trial hearing for the two defendants at 8.30am on Feb 16, next year. The Aug 17 bomb blast killed 20 people, including five Malaysians and injured 130 people.
