THE NATION October 5, 2011
After escaping the long arm of the law for more than a year, red-shirt leader Darunee Kritboonyalai surrendered to police yesterday to face charges of violating the emergency decree in relation to last year's unrest and riots.
She reported to the Lumpini police station in response to a summons issued in April 2010. She is one of the 55 lesser red-shirt leaders summoned for questioning about the role they played in last year's anti-government protests.
Some 100 members of the red-shirt movement appeared at the police station to offer Darunee moral support, applauding and shouting words of encouragement when she arrived.
Defence lawyer Karom Polthaklang said Darunee denied all charges because she had left the protest site when the emergency decree was issued and that she had no intention of avoiding the law because she often postponed her appointments with police through her lawyer.
"We will argue that the emergency decree was issued illegally and will take our case to the Constitution Court," the lawyer said.
According to Karom, Jaran Dittha-apichai, another lesser red-shirt leader allegedly on the run, has reportedly returned to Thailand and is going to turn himself in soon.
Yesterday, Darunee was interrogated by police for about an hour and fingerprinted before being released. She was not told to provide a surety.
Darunee told reporters later that she had left the protest site because she feared for her safety ahead of the imminent dispersal of protesters by government security forces. She declined to say where she had been hiding.
She and other fugitive red-shirt leaders were seen at a recent friendly football match in Phnom Penh between red-shirt politicians and Cambodian ministers, including Prime Minister Hun Sen. She crossed the Cambodian border in a car on Sunday.
When asked if she had met controversial red-shirt leader Arisman Pongruangrong in Cambodia, Darunee appeared irritated and her supporters booed to voice their disapproval of the question.
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