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From the start, this programme contains some scenes which some viewers may find upsetting. | 0:00:02 | 0:00:08 | |
A charismatic leader swept to power by the people's will. | 0:00:08 | 0:00:11 | |
To the world, Thailand is the latest country to experience a democratic awakening. | 0:00:11 | 0:00:16 | |
But there is a darker story. | 0:00:18 | 0:00:21 | |
EXPLOSION | 0:00:21 | 0:00:23 | |
GUNFIRE | 0:00:23 | 0:00:25 | |
A story of killing and cover-up. | 0:00:26 | 0:00:28 | |
-And where were the bullets coming from? -From up there. | 0:00:30 | 0:00:33 | |
Last year, scores of civilians were killed in bloody clashes in Bangkok, | 0:00:35 | 0:00:39 | |
many shot by the army. | 0:00:39 | 0:00:41 | |
But the military hasn't faced justice for ITS role. | 0:00:41 | 0:00:46 | |
As they battle for the truth, | 0:00:46 | 0:00:48 | |
the families of the victims say they're obstructed at every turn. | 0:00:48 | 0:00:51 | |
-TRANSLATION: -I am furious, defeated and angry, all together. Why? | 0:00:51 | 0:00:58 | |
I feel sorry because I know who ordered the killing. | 0:00:58 | 0:01:01 | |
Tonight, some of the government's investigators tell us they're being told to cover up army killings. | 0:01:02 | 0:01:08 | |
Now, after her landslide election victory, the new leader promises to expose the truth. | 0:01:11 | 0:01:17 | |
If she delivers, it will be an historic first for Thailand. | 0:01:17 | 0:01:22 | |
We journey into the murky world of power in Thailand, | 0:01:22 | 0:01:26 | |
and ask if those who've always killed with impunity will at last face justice? | 0:01:26 | 0:01:32 | |
It is a haven of peace in the centre of Bangkok. | 0:01:45 | 0:01:48 | |
A Buddhist temple. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:51 | |
But it's also a place of sorrow. | 0:01:54 | 0:01:57 | |
For this mother, Payao Akkhahad, has come to make an offering for the soul of a daughter, | 0:02:01 | 0:02:06 | |
killed here a year ago. | 0:02:06 | 0:02:08 | |
TRANSLATION: I don't want to come here, | 0:02:10 | 0:02:13 | |
because when I'm here I really miss my daughter. | 0:02:13 | 0:02:16 | |
This is the only place in Bangkok I don't want to be. | 0:02:16 | 0:02:20 | |
Nurse Kamonked was killed tending to the wounded in a medical tent | 0:02:28 | 0:02:32 | |
when Thailand's army fired into this temple last May. | 0:02:32 | 0:02:35 | |
25-year-old Ked had always wanted to help the victims of disaster | 0:02:35 | 0:02:39 | |
and joined the Red Cross as a volunteer nurse. | 0:02:39 | 0:02:43 | |
TRANSLATION: She had a volunteer spirit. I often stopped her going. | 0:02:46 | 0:02:51 | |
The reason I stopped trying to discourage her | 0:02:51 | 0:02:53 | |
was after she came back from helping people at the tsunami. Then, she went without telling me. | 0:02:53 | 0:02:58 | |
And when she came back I told her off. | 0:02:58 | 0:03:00 | |
My daughter said to me, "Don't worry about me. | 0:03:00 | 0:03:03 | |
"I am part of this country." | 0:03:03 | 0:03:05 | |
For the last 12 months, Payao Akkhahad has battled to uncover the truth | 0:03:11 | 0:03:16 | |
about what happened in this sacred place. | 0:03:16 | 0:03:20 | |
But a year on, she's no nearer getting justice. | 0:03:20 | 0:03:24 | |
On the other side of the world, another woman is caught up in the same struggle. | 0:03:26 | 0:03:31 | |
On the day Nurse Ked was killed, a 45-year-old Italian photographer | 0:03:31 | 0:03:36 | |
was recording the unfolding drama on Bangkok's streets. | 0:03:36 | 0:03:40 | |
He was a young man that loves very much music... | 0:03:42 | 0:03:45 | |
..very friendly, | 0:03:47 | 0:03:49 | |
very sporty, | 0:03:49 | 0:03:51 | |
loves very much women! | 0:03:51 | 0:03:55 | |
And a simple, simple, simple person. | 0:03:55 | 0:03:58 | |
Fabio Polenghi followed his sister Isa into photography. | 0:03:59 | 0:04:04 | |
From Milan, his early work was in fashion. | 0:04:04 | 0:04:08 | |
But he became bored | 0:04:11 | 0:04:13 | |
and began working on social issues in the developing world. | 0:04:13 | 0:04:17 | |
INDISTINCT CHATTER | 0:04:17 | 0:04:20 | |
Last year, he was following a story of political upheaval - | 0:04:20 | 0:04:23 | |
the anti-government red-shirt protests in Bangkok. | 0:04:23 | 0:04:27 | |
He'd been there for three months when his sister, | 0:04:31 | 0:04:34 | |
asleep in her Milan apartment, was awoken by a telephone call. | 0:04:34 | 0:04:38 | |
Around eight, my phone start to ring. | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
And a friend of mine, a very old friend of mine, | 0:04:45 | 0:04:49 | |
just starts shouting in my ear, "Fabio's been killed." | 0:04:49 | 0:04:53 | |
Isa flew immediately to Bangkok. | 0:04:55 | 0:04:59 | |
She found Fabio in a hospital mortuary. | 0:04:59 | 0:05:03 | |
I could see Fabio laying down on this little bed. | 0:05:03 | 0:05:06 | |
His face was far away from what I remember of him. | 0:05:08 | 0:05:11 | |
You try to recognise, but there is something that...probably is... | 0:05:13 | 0:05:20 | |
is...is that you realise the person is gone. | 0:05:20 | 0:05:24 | |
Isa knew Fabio had been shot dead on the final day | 0:05:26 | 0:05:29 | |
of the red-shirt protests, May 19th 2010. | 0:05:29 | 0:05:33 | |
His friends showed her his blood at the scene of the killing. | 0:05:35 | 0:05:39 | |
She watched as the council trucks washed it away. | 0:05:39 | 0:05:42 | |
Back in Milan, Isa was haunted by questions. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:56 | |
She was troubled by information given to the Italian Ambassador by Thai authorities. | 0:06:00 | 0:06:06 | |
He told me that Fabio was working up and down through the front line, | 0:06:06 | 0:06:12 | |
and that snipers were shooting, | 0:06:12 | 0:06:15 | |
and probably a red... a red shirt shoot him, a sniper. | 0:06:15 | 0:06:23 | |
For Isa, that judgment was too swift. | 0:06:25 | 0:06:27 | |
I say, "If it so clear, we have evidence...then." | 0:06:29 | 0:06:35 | |
But there was no evidence, so... | 0:06:35 | 0:06:38 | |
It was too fast conclusion. | 0:06:38 | 0:06:42 | |
As two women - one Thai, the other Italian - | 0:06:44 | 0:06:46 | |
set out to try and discover the truth, | 0:06:46 | 0:06:49 | |
they would confront a culture in which the powerful | 0:06:49 | 0:06:52 | |
have never been held to account. | 0:06:52 | 0:06:54 | |
But to understand how their loved ones came to die on the streets of Bangkok, | 0:07:00 | 0:07:04 | |
we must travel to the roots of a political crisis that divided Thailand. | 0:07:04 | 0:07:09 | |
An ancient Thai inscription reads, "This land is good. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:18 | |
"In the water there is fish, in the fields there is rice. | 0:07:18 | 0:07:21 | |
"Whoever wants to trade, trades. | 0:07:21 | 0:07:25 | |
"The faces of the people shine bright with happiness." | 0:07:25 | 0:07:28 | |
Thailand refers to itself as "The Land of Smiles". | 0:07:29 | 0:07:32 | |
The trouble with Thailand is the enormous gap | 0:07:37 | 0:07:39 | |
between the very wealthy few and the peasant majority. | 0:07:39 | 0:07:43 | |
Here in the rural heartland, a charismatic politician started a social revolution. | 0:07:46 | 0:07:51 | |
TRANSLATION: During Thaksin Shinawatra's government, | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
villages could complain about their troubles. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:03 | |
The government responded to these troubles very well. | 0:08:03 | 0:08:07 | |
In his government, uneducated and lower-class people could meet the Prime Minister. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:16 | |
There were government authorities that helped people. | 0:08:17 | 0:08:20 | |
Thaksin Shinawatra was an ex-police colonel who became a billionaire. | 0:08:24 | 0:08:29 | |
His vast business empire even included Manchester City Football Club. | 0:08:29 | 0:08:34 | |
He won two elections, in the process becoming Thailand's longest-serving Prime Minister. | 0:08:34 | 0:08:39 | |
Despite widespread allegations of corruption and of major human rights abuse, | 0:08:41 | 0:08:45 | |
he remained hugely popular with the poor. | 0:08:45 | 0:08:48 | |
TRANSLATION: Every household had a better life, a better living. | 0:08:51 | 0:08:55 | |
They had money that belonged to them and which they could spend. | 0:08:55 | 0:08:58 | |
The economy in the village improved. | 0:08:58 | 0:09:01 | |
It was out here in the countryside that Thaksin Shinawatra cultivated his power base | 0:09:04 | 0:09:10 | |
among people who felt they'd never before had a stake in society. | 0:09:10 | 0:09:14 | |
He forged this coalition of outsiders | 0:09:14 | 0:09:17 | |
along with people in the sprawling cities, | 0:09:17 | 0:09:20 | |
to create the most powerful mass political movement this country had ever seen. | 0:09:20 | 0:09:25 | |
But it was a movement that would eventually face a bloody showdown | 0:09:32 | 0:09:36 | |
on the streets of Bangkok. | 0:09:36 | 0:09:39 | |
For Thaksin's power was a direct challenge to the elite who'd always dominated Thai life. | 0:09:40 | 0:09:45 | |
The Democracy Monument in central Bangkok | 0:09:48 | 0:09:50 | |
is a grandiose tribute to something Thais have only rarely experienced. | 0:09:50 | 0:09:55 | |
-NEWSREEL: -As the guns fire a salute to their majesties, | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
the King uses the occasion to glorify the role of the soldier | 0:10:01 | 0:10:04 | |
as defender of the nation's integrity. | 0:10:04 | 0:10:07 | |
In Thailand, real power has always lain with the monarchy and the army. | 0:10:07 | 0:10:12 | |
They control a vast network of patronage. | 0:10:15 | 0:10:18 | |
The 83-year-old King is widely revered. | 0:10:21 | 0:10:25 | |
The army draws its legitimacy from acting as his defender. | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
The military and the monarchy dominated politics. | 0:10:32 | 0:10:36 | |
Who controls who? | 0:10:36 | 0:10:37 | |
Is it the military controlling the monarchy, or is it the monarchy controlling the military? | 0:10:37 | 0:10:42 | |
When two sides believe that they use one another, | 0:10:42 | 0:10:45 | |
we have an English word - we call collaborations. | 0:10:45 | 0:10:48 | |
Right! They collaborate. They use each other. | 0:10:50 | 0:10:54 | |
To protect its power, the army has ruthlessly crushed any threats. | 0:10:56 | 0:11:01 | |
In the last 70 years, there have been 18 military coups, | 0:11:02 | 0:11:07 | |
and bloody crackdowns on political enemies. | 0:11:07 | 0:11:10 | |
-NEWSREEL: -The assault began just after daybreak. | 0:11:10 | 0:11:13 | |
Then came moments of pure horror as the 2,000 leftist students, | 0:11:13 | 0:11:17 | |
including many girls, began surrendering. | 0:11:17 | 0:11:21 | |
The police did nothing to prevent several being beaten to death after arrest. | 0:11:21 | 0:11:26 | |
Not once have soldiers faced justice for their actions. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:32 | |
-NEWSREEL: -The Thai military seem indifferent to the reaction, | 0:11:37 | 0:11:40 | |
inside this country or outside, of such repression. | 0:11:40 | 0:11:45 | |
The King has sometimes opposed such coups. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:48 | |
But his interventions haven't altered | 0:11:48 | 0:11:51 | |
the fundamental dynamic of Thai politics. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:54 | |
The history of Thailand is dotted with coups, | 0:11:54 | 0:12:00 | |
short-lived military governments, | 0:12:00 | 0:12:03 | |
sometimes long-lived military governments, | 0:12:03 | 0:12:06 | |
because the military sees itself, and the monarchy sees the military, | 0:12:06 | 0:12:11 | |
as the protector of the monarch, not the protector of democracy. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
But Thaksin's natural instincts would bring conflict with this elite. | 0:12:14 | 0:12:20 | |
I'm aggressive. I work fast. I want to drive to the success. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:27 | |
Like an ambitious tycoon, Thaksin set out to extend his influence | 0:12:29 | 0:12:33 | |
into the two most powerful institutions in Thailand. | 0:12:33 | 0:12:37 | |
DR CHAMBERS: Thaksin wanted his own loyalists in charge. | 0:12:37 | 0:12:41 | |
He began to politicise his military | 0:12:41 | 0:12:43 | |
and elevated his own cousin to be army commander. | 0:12:43 | 0:12:48 | |
This political poker game would bring Thailand closer to confrontation. | 0:12:51 | 0:12:56 | |
According to secret American diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks, | 0:12:56 | 0:13:01 | |
Thaksin was also trying to exert influence inside the Royal Palace, | 0:13:01 | 0:13:05 | |
by allying himself to the heir to the throne. | 0:13:05 | 0:13:10 | |
But the buccaneering businessman had gone too far. | 0:13:27 | 0:13:31 | |
In September 2006, Thaksin was overthrown while abroad, | 0:13:31 | 0:13:36 | |
accused by the army of corruption, nepotism and insulting the King. | 0:13:36 | 0:13:42 | |
-NEWSREEL: -So far, the absence of any resistance to the coup may be due to this man, the King. | 0:13:42 | 0:13:47 | |
In this country, the monarchy is revered | 0:13:47 | 0:13:50 | |
and the King seems to have given his tacit support to the takeover. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:55 | |
Thailand was plunged into an era of political chaos. | 0:13:58 | 0:14:03 | |
Thaksin exiled himself abroad to escape corruption charges. | 0:14:03 | 0:14:08 | |
Pro and anti-Thaksin groups, | 0:14:08 | 0:14:10 | |
defined by the colour of their shirts, took to the streets. | 0:14:10 | 0:14:15 | |
In March 2010, pro-Thaksin red shirts began demonstrating to overthrow the government, | 0:14:16 | 0:14:23 | |
a coalition backed by the army. | 0:14:23 | 0:14:25 | |
TRANSLATION: I first joined on 12th March. | 0:14:30 | 0:14:33 | |
I went with my three children. | 0:14:33 | 0:14:36 | |
The feeling I had in joining the demonstrations, personally, I wanted Parliament dissolved. | 0:14:36 | 0:14:41 | |
I wanted a fresh election. I wanted a new government. | 0:14:41 | 0:14:45 | |
Samran Wa-ngam was typical of Thaksin's supporters. | 0:14:48 | 0:14:52 | |
One of the rural poor, he'd originally come to Bangkok to search for work. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:57 | |
Instead, his family would be engulfed by tragedy in the crisis ahead. | 0:14:57 | 0:15:02 | |
TRANSLATION: The atmosphere at the beginning of the demonstration was fine. It was fun. | 0:15:03 | 0:15:08 | |
The protests paralysed Bangkok's business district. | 0:15:10 | 0:15:13 | |
On April 7th, protestors stormed Parliament. | 0:15:16 | 0:15:19 | |
SHOUTING | 0:15:19 | 0:15:22 | |
Ministers were forced to flee. | 0:15:22 | 0:15:24 | |
Thailand was moving towards a decisive showdown. | 0:15:28 | 0:15:32 | |
By April 10th, after weeks of demonstrations, | 0:15:37 | 0:15:39 | |
the government had had enough. | 0:15:39 | 0:15:42 | |
The army went in to clear demonstrators, firing tear gas and rubber bullets. | 0:15:43 | 0:15:49 | |
I got a phone call from a friend | 0:15:50 | 0:15:52 | |
saying that they're starting to shoot at demonstrators. | 0:15:52 | 0:15:56 | |
GUNFIRE AND SHOUTING | 0:15:56 | 0:15:59 | |
I heard, like, firecrackers... | 0:15:59 | 0:16:04 | |
but actually, it's tear gas. | 0:16:04 | 0:16:05 | |
TRANSLATION: Rubber bullets were fired, at first a few and then many of them. | 0:16:10 | 0:16:15 | |
'Most demonstrators like Samran and his family were peaceful, | 0:16:16 | 0:16:20 | |
'but there were some armed militants among the crowd facing the army.' | 0:16:20 | 0:16:25 | |
TRANSLATION: My son was standing here. | 0:16:25 | 0:16:27 | |
He was holding a Thai flag and shouting, "Red shirts, fight. Fight!" | 0:16:27 | 0:16:31 | |
SHOUTING, MUSIC PLAYS | 0:16:31 | 0:16:34 | |
There was a surreal soundtrack. | 0:16:35 | 0:16:38 | |
The army pumped jazz music through loudspeakers, | 0:16:38 | 0:16:42 | |
tunes composed by the King, a noted saxophone player. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:46 | |
'I heard the royal jazz music | 0:16:46 | 0:16:49 | |
'coming from the direction of the school.' | 0:16:49 | 0:16:54 | |
So, you're standing there? You hear jazz music written by the King? | 0:16:54 | 0:16:57 | |
It was composed by the King, yeah. | 0:16:57 | 0:17:00 | |
-The army were playing this? -The army were playing it. | 0:17:00 | 0:17:02 | |
The army say the music was intended to calm people. | 0:17:05 | 0:17:09 | |
But then came an incident that dramatically changed the atmosphere. | 0:17:09 | 0:17:14 | |
EXPLOSION | 0:17:14 | 0:17:16 | |
SHOUTING | 0:17:16 | 0:17:17 | |
Three grenades were fired into the army lines, | 0:17:19 | 0:17:21 | |
killing the colonel leading the operation and four other soldiers. | 0:17:21 | 0:17:26 | |
Many more were injured. | 0:17:26 | 0:17:28 | |
Under continuing fire from armed militants operating on the red-shirt side, | 0:17:28 | 0:17:34 | |
the panicked troops responded fiercely. | 0:17:34 | 0:17:36 | |
SHOUTING, SIRENS | 0:17:36 | 0:17:38 | |
GUNFIRE | 0:17:38 | 0:17:41 | |
Some people were crying, some people were screaming, | 0:17:47 | 0:17:50 | |
and even the medics, they also got, like, angry. | 0:17:50 | 0:17:53 | |
They were saying, "How could you do this to the people?" | 0:17:53 | 0:17:56 | |
Facing directly towards the army was Samran Wa-ngam and his two sons. | 0:17:56 | 0:18:02 | |
Suddenly Sawat, the eldest, fell to the ground. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:07 | |
TRANSLATION: He turned to look at his younger brother. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:11 | |
Then he was shot in the head from above by a sniper. | 0:18:11 | 0:18:15 | |
His head was a mess. | 0:18:15 | 0:18:17 | |
This mobile phone footage shows the deadly result. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:22 | |
TRANSLATION: After my son collapsed, | 0:18:29 | 0:18:31 | |
I thought he was dead because his brain had splattered out on the road. | 0:18:31 | 0:18:36 | |
After you saw him fall, what did you do then? | 0:18:39 | 0:18:43 | |
After my son collapsed, I ran to him and I cradled his neck in my arms. | 0:18:45 | 0:18:51 | |
The soldiers tried to pull him away by the legs, but were outnumbered by red shirts. | 0:18:53 | 0:18:59 | |
So we held onto him. | 0:18:59 | 0:19:00 | |
I took off my red shirt and wrapped up his brain, then I took him to the hospital. | 0:19:02 | 0:19:08 | |
Then I took his brain to leave at the Democracy Monument. | 0:19:10 | 0:19:14 | |
26 people were killed, over 800 injured | 0:19:15 | 0:19:18 | |
in violence triggered by the grenade attack. | 0:19:18 | 0:19:22 | |
It still hasn't been proved who did it but its effect was dramatic. | 0:19:22 | 0:19:27 | |
As a result of the attack on April 10th, | 0:19:27 | 0:19:31 | |
you see the Thai military becoming much more repressive | 0:19:31 | 0:19:36 | |
against the red shirts, and really shooting into the crowds. | 0:19:36 | 0:19:43 | |
In the chaos of last spring, a range of armed groups appeared on Bangkok's streets. | 0:19:47 | 0:19:51 | |
Some consisted of former and current soldiers who supported Thaksin. | 0:19:53 | 0:19:57 | |
These groups would become known as black shirts. | 0:19:57 | 0:20:01 | |
They fired at the army on numerous occasions, | 0:20:01 | 0:20:04 | |
killing and wounding soldiers and attacking political opponents of the red shirts. | 0:20:04 | 0:20:08 | |
Militants also stormed a Bangkok hospital and threatened medical staff, | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
according to the internationally respected group Human Rights Watch. | 0:20:14 | 0:20:19 | |
As the conflict worsened, the highest price would be paid by the innocent. | 0:20:19 | 0:20:23 | |
With his roots in fashion and social issues, | 0:20:25 | 0:20:28 | |
Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi was no war journalist. | 0:20:28 | 0:20:32 | |
But as things got worse, Fabio dedicated himself | 0:20:32 | 0:20:36 | |
to documenting the reality on the streets. | 0:20:36 | 0:20:39 | |
Fabio was giving a very sharp message, a very clean message. | 0:20:42 | 0:20:47 | |
His work was | 0:20:47 | 0:20:49 | |
to be a witness and to be a guard of human rights. | 0:20:49 | 0:20:55 | |
On May 14th, parts of central Bangkok | 0:20:55 | 0:20:58 | |
were declared live-fire zones by the army. | 0:20:58 | 0:21:01 | |
GUNSHOT | 0:21:01 | 0:21:03 | |
Despite a government offer of elections, | 0:21:03 | 0:21:06 | |
the red shirts refused to move. | 0:21:06 | 0:21:09 | |
The mood among some leaders had hardened. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:12 | |
Some spoke of turning Bangkok into a sea of fire. | 0:21:12 | 0:21:15 | |
Human Rights Watch accuse the army of randomly shooting into crowds. | 0:21:17 | 0:21:24 | |
Of the more than 50 killed in this period, | 0:21:24 | 0:21:27 | |
the overwhelming majority were civilians. | 0:21:27 | 0:21:30 | |
On May 19th, the army advanced to clear the streets. | 0:21:35 | 0:21:39 | |
The decisive hours were approaching. | 0:21:43 | 0:21:46 | |
On the morning of the 19th, I remember looking out the window. There was a huge amount of smoke. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:04 | |
The city was basically under siege and had been for the past week. | 0:22:10 | 0:22:17 | |
I think everyone was wondering, | 0:22:18 | 0:22:20 | |
"OK, is this the day that the whole thing is going to come crumbling down?" | 0:22:20 | 0:22:25 | |
I left after that with my camera, just going handheld, | 0:22:25 | 0:22:29 | |
and went into the red-shirt section. | 0:22:29 | 0:22:31 | |
GUNSHOT | 0:22:31 | 0:22:33 | |
Brad Cox found himself working alongside Fabio Polenghi | 0:22:33 | 0:22:38 | |
at the barricade marking the front line | 0:22:38 | 0:22:40 | |
of what had become red-shirt territory in central Bangkok. | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
I was at the front barricade. | 0:22:46 | 0:22:48 | |
This was a temporary set-up, | 0:22:48 | 0:22:50 | |
and it was literally just a few tyres and a couple of iron bars. | 0:22:50 | 0:22:56 | |
Metal bars. That was it. I mean, it really offered no protection. | 0:22:56 | 0:23:00 | |
'Fabio's sister has retraced his final steps.' | 0:23:00 | 0:23:05 | |
So, what happens is, you have the army coming from this direction...? | 0:23:05 | 0:23:10 | |
The army, this direction, that direction. | 0:23:10 | 0:23:14 | |
Fabio sees the army approaching from here, from here? | 0:23:14 | 0:23:18 | |
-Down here, you had the red shirts? -Yeah, long way. Long way that way. | 0:23:18 | 0:23:23 | |
A Dutch radio reporter was caught up in the events in the same area as Fabio and Brad Cox. | 0:23:23 | 0:23:30 | |
I ran towards that point where the army was coming in and at some point, | 0:23:30 | 0:23:36 | |
bullets started spraying everywhere. | 0:23:36 | 0:23:38 | |
Everybody was ducking for cover. | 0:23:38 | 0:23:41 | |
At some point, all the people around me started running. | 0:23:41 | 0:23:44 | |
SHOUTING | 0:23:44 | 0:23:46 | |
GUNFIRE | 0:23:48 | 0:23:50 | |
All of a sudden, I got a real hard blow against my shoulder, | 0:23:52 | 0:23:56 | |
and only after a while, I saw the blood coming out of it and I realised I was shot. | 0:23:56 | 0:24:00 | |
I was with red-shirt members, maybe around 50 people, 60 people, | 0:24:00 | 0:24:06 | |
at the intersection over there. | 0:24:06 | 0:24:09 | |
I saw the soldiers, five or six soldiers, shot a gun to us. | 0:24:09 | 0:24:15 | |
-Shot at you? -Sure. I'm sure. And we escape from intersection. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:21 | |
With live fire coming their way, Fabio and the other journalists | 0:24:26 | 0:24:30 | |
tried moving to safer ground, away from the army. | 0:24:30 | 0:24:33 | |
-But there are bullets flying down here... -Yes. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:39 | |
There are soldiers shooting from all over the place. | 0:24:39 | 0:24:42 | |
Yes, and as well, from the buildings, snipers are shooting. | 0:24:42 | 0:24:47 | |
GUNFIRE | 0:24:47 | 0:24:50 | |
'There were armed militants like this one firing at the army in that area, | 0:24:50 | 0:24:55 | |
'but all the journalist witnesses we've spoken with are adamant | 0:24:55 | 0:24:59 | |
'they were being shot at from the direction of the military.' | 0:24:59 | 0:25:03 | |
You see all around here there are holes from the shooting. | 0:25:03 | 0:25:07 | |
Yes, let's have a look. I can see over here. | 0:25:07 | 0:25:10 | |
-There you go, there's a bullet hole. -Yes. -There are just so many around here. | 0:25:10 | 0:25:14 | |
And I suddenly felt this intense burning in my knee. | 0:25:14 | 0:25:19 | |
I couldn't really understand what that was. | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
I looked down and I saw that I'd been shot. | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
My first impulse is, "Holy crap. I can't believe it. I got shot." | 0:25:24 | 0:25:31 | |
I decided to turn around to see where it came from, | 0:25:31 | 0:25:35 | |
and as I turned around, I saw Fabio Polenghi on the ground. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:39 | |
-So, right around about here... -Here. | 0:25:39 | 0:25:42 | |
..he heads out into the middle of the road. | 0:25:42 | 0:25:45 | |
Presumably he's looking for cover on the other side. | 0:25:45 | 0:25:47 | |
So Fabio heads out from here, moving really quickly. Running. | 0:25:47 | 0:25:52 | |
-Gets to here and - bang - the shot rings out from somewhere around here and hits him. -Yes. | 0:25:52 | 0:25:57 | |
So, Fabio...more or less here, was laying down facing that way. | 0:25:57 | 0:26:04 | |
The Japanese photographer Saito Masayuki, | 0:26:06 | 0:26:10 | |
seen here in the pink shirt and yellow helmet, | 0:26:10 | 0:26:12 | |
was by Fabio's side. | 0:26:12 | 0:26:15 | |
I turned round and I saw Mr Fabio and I took pictures. | 0:26:15 | 0:26:19 | |
-Was he lying on the ground when you turned around? -Yes, yes. | 0:26:19 | 0:26:23 | |
-So, these are photographs you took just after he'd been shot? -Yes. | 0:26:23 | 0:26:28 | |
This is a photograph, in fact, here, isn't there... | 0:26:30 | 0:26:33 | |
-That's you helping to drag him away. -Yes. | 0:26:33 | 0:26:37 | |
-GUNFIRE -He was just down on the ground. | 0:26:37 | 0:26:40 | |
He was obviously seriously, seriously hurt. He wasn't moving. | 0:26:40 | 0:26:44 | |
Then other colleagues came from the other side. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:49 | |
So, they came here and tried to pull him out. | 0:26:49 | 0:26:53 | |
SHOUTING | 0:26:53 | 0:26:55 | |
-But by then it's too late? -Yes. | 0:26:57 | 0:27:01 | |
It was. He had one hit in the heart. | 0:27:01 | 0:27:05 | |
SHOUTING | 0:27:05 | 0:27:08 | |
If he wasn't dead in the moment that he was shot, | 0:27:09 | 0:27:13 | |
he...he was soon thereafter. | 0:27:13 | 0:27:15 | |
SHOUTING | 0:27:15 | 0:27:17 | |
To try to find the truth, Isa Polenghi had to turn detective. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:28 | |
She's spent most of the last year trying to find out who killed Fabio. | 0:27:28 | 0:27:33 | |
When I came back to Italy, I start on web, on YouTube. | 0:27:33 | 0:27:39 | |
There were millions of... of movie on Thailand. | 0:27:39 | 0:27:44 | |
So, I start to search again and again and again. | 0:27:44 | 0:27:48 | |
I see thousands of video. | 0:27:48 | 0:27:50 | |
She had no idea how difficult her quest for justice would be. | 0:27:53 | 0:27:56 | |
But she wanted the truth to be her final gift to Fabio. | 0:27:56 | 0:28:02 | |
I just stopped working for myself | 0:28:02 | 0:28:05 | |
and I start working very hard on things of Fabio. | 0:28:05 | 0:28:11 | |
I just needed to do it. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:12 | |
THEY SPEAK IN ITALIAN | 0:28:12 | 0:28:14 | |
On her return to Milan, she'd established the precise location where Fabio had fallen. | 0:28:19 | 0:28:26 | |
She'd been to the spot. She'd seen his blood. | 0:28:28 | 0:28:31 | |
The time of Fabio's death, Isa worked out from cross-referencing photographs and video | 0:28:35 | 0:28:39 | |
and by talking to people who'd been present. | 0:28:39 | 0:28:42 | |
We were knowing the time... and we were knowing the spot, | 0:28:44 | 0:28:49 | |
because we went there and the blood was still there. | 0:28:49 | 0:28:52 | |
So those were two things very important to fix. | 0:28:52 | 0:28:56 | |
But to seek an answer to the central question who killed Fabio, | 0:28:59 | 0:29:04 | |
Isa had to return to Bangkok. | 0:29:04 | 0:29:06 | |
The Italian embassy arranged for her to meet investigators from the DSI, | 0:29:08 | 0:29:12 | |
the Department of Special Investigations. | 0:29:12 | 0:29:16 | |
They start very nicely, very...welcome with me. | 0:29:16 | 0:29:23 | |
'I let them talk a little bit, | 0:29:23 | 0:29:27 | |
'but I knew that there were many mistakes.' | 0:29:27 | 0:29:31 | |
This is special case number 320. | 0:29:31 | 0:29:33 | |
After two months of investigation, | 0:29:33 | 0:29:36 | |
the DSI had apparently failed to uncover the basics. | 0:29:36 | 0:29:40 | |
We're not really sure, the exact time, | 0:29:40 | 0:29:43 | |
but things can be found out easily. | 0:29:43 | 0:29:46 | |
Time and place. | 0:29:46 | 0:29:50 | |
'I felt, like, really unbelievable | 0:29:50 | 0:29:54 | |
'that they didn't know the time and the place where Fabio was shot.' | 0:29:54 | 0:30:00 | |
And I start to be more strong to tell them, | 0:30:00 | 0:30:03 | |
you know, I'm telling you the right thing. | 0:30:03 | 0:30:06 | |
'I'm sure about this. I got the evidence of this. And at that point,' | 0:30:06 | 0:30:11 | |
they start to be more uncomfortable and start to be | 0:30:11 | 0:30:15 | |
'more embarrassed.' | 0:30:15 | 0:30:16 | |
The point is not correct. | 0:30:16 | 0:30:20 | |
Nearly a year passed. Isa came back to see what progress had been made. | 0:30:23 | 0:30:27 | |
Isa, ten months have gone by. What do you hope to hear from them today? | 0:30:37 | 0:30:41 | |
I'm sure in a way I would like to have answers... | 0:30:41 | 0:30:46 | |
maybe knowing...what happened, | 0:30:46 | 0:30:49 | |
but I don't feel like it will be like this, you know? | 0:30:49 | 0:30:53 | |
-You are not expecting, but you're hoping? -Yes. | 0:30:53 | 0:30:55 | |
I would like to be surprised. | 0:30:55 | 0:30:57 | |
'Later that evening, I caught up with Isa.' | 0:31:25 | 0:31:28 | |
Isa, you've just come out of the meeting with the DSI. Are you any the wiser? | 0:31:31 | 0:31:35 | |
Do you know any more now about how your brother died? | 0:31:35 | 0:31:39 | |
No. Fabio's case, it's one of those cases that they call unknown. | 0:31:39 | 0:31:46 | |
Responsibility is unknown. | 0:31:47 | 0:31:49 | |
But I don't know how much this is, you know... | 0:31:49 | 0:31:53 | |
-You don't know how much of their confusion is genuine... -Yes. | 0:31:53 | 0:31:57 | |
-..or merely to throw you off the scent? -Yes. | 0:31:57 | 0:32:00 | |
-You can't say, really, can you? -No. | 0:32:00 | 0:32:02 | |
Isa says the DSI is now telling her there were no soldiers in the area when Fabio was shot. | 0:32:03 | 0:32:11 | |
The investigators from the government side say that the shots couldn't have been fired by the army | 0:32:11 | 0:32:16 | |
because the army weren't there at the time. | 0:32:16 | 0:32:18 | |
That's completely untrue. That is completely false. | 0:32:18 | 0:32:22 | |
I can say with absolute certainty that the troops were there from... | 0:32:22 | 0:32:28 | |
minimum, an hour before, a minimum, from ten o'clock. Of course they were there. Yeah. | 0:32:28 | 0:32:35 | |
I didn't even know anyone was disputing that. | 0:32:35 | 0:32:37 | |
Dutch radio reporter Michel Maas was shot around the same time as Fabio, in the same location. | 0:32:37 | 0:32:43 | |
Who does he blame? | 0:32:43 | 0:32:45 | |
I think the military. | 0:32:45 | 0:32:47 | |
Everything points in the direction of the military, | 0:32:47 | 0:32:50 | |
because we were hiding, | 0:32:50 | 0:32:53 | |
and bullets were coming from the direction where we saw the soldiers. | 0:32:53 | 0:32:58 | |
Finding out who killed Fabio is the job of the DSI. | 0:32:58 | 0:33:03 | |
The red-shirt leadership has sources inside the organisation. | 0:33:06 | 0:33:11 | |
They arranged for two investigators to speak with us on condition of anonymity. | 0:33:11 | 0:33:16 | |
These men allege the DSI has been told to cover up army killings. | 0:33:19 | 0:33:23 | |
'After we concluded in an early case that people were killed by soldiers, | 0:33:27 | 0:33:32 | |
'other cases that came to the same conclusion were blocked. | 0:33:32 | 0:33:36 | |
'We were asked to say that we didn't yet know who did it. | 0:33:36 | 0:33:40 | |
'We believe the deaths were caused by soldiers firing their guns. | 0:33:40 | 0:33:43 | |
'However, as a result, the director of the DSI | 0:33:43 | 0:33:47 | |
'had to try and dig his way out of this conclusion.' | 0:33:47 | 0:33:51 | |
There is no sign of justice in another case, | 0:33:51 | 0:33:54 | |
that of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, | 0:33:54 | 0:33:57 | |
killed earlier in the protests. | 0:33:57 | 0:33:59 | |
The DSI initially reported he'd probably been killed by soldiers, | 0:33:59 | 0:34:04 | |
a conclusion backed up by Reuters' own investigation. | 0:34:04 | 0:34:08 | |
But the DSI then changed its mind | 0:34:08 | 0:34:11 | |
and said Hiro might have been killed by red shirts. | 0:34:11 | 0:34:14 | |
The investigators told us there was a policy of blaming the reds wherever possible. | 0:34:14 | 0:34:19 | |
'There have been attempts to issue an order that in case the culprits could not be found, | 0:34:19 | 0:34:24 | |
'we should bring charges against the red shirts. | 0:34:24 | 0:34:27 | |
'The director was the one who issued the order. | 0:34:27 | 0:34:29 | |
'We've been ordered that if could not find those who pulled the trigger, | 0:34:29 | 0:34:33 | |
'we should assume that the red shirts were the ones that pulled the trigger, and their supporters.' | 0:34:33 | 0:34:39 | |
The director of the DSI declined to be interviewed, | 0:34:39 | 0:34:42 | |
but the Thai government told us investigations were impartial and independent and transparent. | 0:34:42 | 0:34:48 | |
"One should also appreciate the complex and chaotic nature of these incidents, | 0:34:48 | 0:34:52 | |
"with many parties involved," they said. | 0:34:52 | 0:34:57 | |
Ever since the events of last year, scores of opposition supporters have been taken into custody. | 0:34:57 | 0:35:02 | |
Many will face charges. | 0:35:02 | 0:35:04 | |
But how many members of the military are awaiting trial? | 0:35:04 | 0:35:08 | |
The answer is none. | 0:35:08 | 0:35:11 | |
More than 90 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the bloody clashes. | 0:35:12 | 0:35:17 | |
Yet unlike the red shirts, the army has never faced the courts for its part in the violence. | 0:35:17 | 0:35:23 | |
This man was the public face of the military throughout last year's crisis. | 0:35:23 | 0:35:28 | |
How did he respond to charges of a cover-up? | 0:35:28 | 0:35:31 | |
TRANSLATION: We never intended to cause any deaths, | 0:35:33 | 0:35:38 | |
no matter if they were soldiers, innocent people or protesters. | 0:35:38 | 0:35:42 | |
We have to prove who killed these people. | 0:35:42 | 0:35:44 | |
You will be aware of the allegation which is being made at the moment, in public, that your chief, | 0:35:45 | 0:35:51 | |
the commander-in-chief, went to the DSI and said, | 0:35:51 | 0:35:55 | |
"Back off. Do not find soldiers guilty." | 0:35:55 | 0:35:58 | |
News is news. This didn't happen. | 0:36:01 | 0:36:04 | |
The army nowadays doesn't want to make a fuss. | 0:36:04 | 0:36:07 | |
If this allegation was made about an ordinary person, | 0:36:07 | 0:36:10 | |
they would bring an action for defamation. | 0:36:10 | 0:36:12 | |
Most of the time the army is patient, | 0:36:12 | 0:36:15 | |
because if it did bring a charge every time something like this was said, | 0:36:15 | 0:36:19 | |
it would greatly burden the justice system. | 0:36:19 | 0:36:21 | |
Human Rights Watch carried out a year-long investigation | 0:36:23 | 0:36:27 | |
and accused the security forces of being largely responsible for the high death toll, | 0:36:27 | 0:36:31 | |
through excessive use of lethal force, | 0:36:31 | 0:36:35 | |
an assertion rejected by the military. | 0:36:35 | 0:36:39 | |
I have to say it was because of the situation at the time. | 0:36:41 | 0:36:45 | |
The troop deployment and the use of weapons | 0:36:45 | 0:36:47 | |
were not something we had anticipated, | 0:36:47 | 0:36:50 | |
but were a result of the violence caused by some protesters who had tried to stir up trouble. | 0:36:50 | 0:36:55 | |
However, the creation of a live-fire zone | 0:36:55 | 0:36:57 | |
didn't mean that live ammunition was being used all the time. | 0:36:57 | 0:37:01 | |
And the army denies it was responsible for the killing of foreign journalists. | 0:37:06 | 0:37:10 | |
"We would have nothing to gain from that," they told us. | 0:37:10 | 0:37:14 | |
Isa Polenghi believes she's facing a culture of cover-up in Thailand. | 0:37:18 | 0:37:23 | |
It's an experience familiar to scores of Thai families. | 0:37:25 | 0:37:28 | |
-TRANSLATION: -We have been deceived by the word democracy, | 0:37:34 | 0:37:38 | |
because since my daughter died, I've never seen justice. | 0:37:38 | 0:37:42 | |
I don't know where to look for it. | 0:37:42 | 0:37:45 | |
Where is justice for my daughter? | 0:37:45 | 0:37:47 | |
Payao's daughter was shot several times | 0:37:53 | 0:37:56 | |
in the most contentious incident of the crackdown. | 0:37:56 | 0:37:58 | |
And a year on, there's still no official explanation for her death. | 0:37:58 | 0:38:03 | |
Kamonked had volunteered as a nurse during the protests. | 0:38:04 | 0:38:10 | |
On 19th May, she was working at an aid station in this temple in central Bangkok. | 0:38:10 | 0:38:16 | |
It had been designated as a safe haven by all sides. | 0:38:17 | 0:38:21 | |
By 1pm, the red-shirt leaders had surrendered, | 0:38:24 | 0:38:27 | |
fearing, they claimed, they were about to be assassinated. | 0:38:27 | 0:38:30 | |
HE SPEAKS IN THAI | 0:38:30 | 0:38:32 | |
GUNSHOT | 0:38:32 | 0:38:34 | |
Soldiers were advancing to clear the streets. | 0:38:38 | 0:38:42 | |
According to Human Rights Watch, militants on the red-shirt side | 0:38:47 | 0:38:51 | |
began to set fire to nearby buildings, | 0:38:51 | 0:38:54 | |
including one of the biggest shopping malls in the world. | 0:38:54 | 0:38:58 | |
SIRENS WAIL | 0:38:58 | 0:39:00 | |
The red shirts deny responsibility for attacks that caused billions in damage. | 0:39:00 | 0:39:06 | |
There were gunfights between the army and militants around this area, | 0:39:06 | 0:39:10 | |
according to Human Rights Watch. | 0:39:10 | 0:39:13 | |
Hundreds of people headed towards the temple compound. | 0:39:13 | 0:39:17 | |
Who decided that this place was going to be a sanctuary? | 0:39:17 | 0:39:20 | |
I don't know who made the decision, but it was negotiated. | 0:39:20 | 0:39:23 | |
Both the government and the red shirts had acknowledged in the press that... | 0:39:23 | 0:39:27 | |
-Once you cross this line here... -Yeah. | 0:39:27 | 0:39:30 | |
This should have been... From here on in, was supposed to be the safe zone. | 0:39:30 | 0:39:34 | |
So, we thought, also, it would be safe for us, | 0:39:34 | 0:39:36 | |
a safe place to do some interviews | 0:39:36 | 0:39:39 | |
and be somewhere where we weren't going to get shot at. | 0:39:39 | 0:39:42 | |
Men, women and children had been making use of the temple grounds for days. | 0:39:44 | 0:39:49 | |
Nurse Ked and her colleagues dealt with minor ailments and injuries. | 0:39:49 | 0:39:53 | |
They worked under pressure, | 0:39:53 | 0:39:56 | |
but the morale Nurse Ked and the team remained high. | 0:39:56 | 0:40:00 | |
TRANSLATION: After the announcement of the curfew, I called her, | 0:40:01 | 0:40:04 | |
and when I spoke to her I asked her where she was. | 0:40:04 | 0:40:07 | |
She said that she was in front of the temple. | 0:40:07 | 0:40:10 | |
I'd never been there, I didn't know anything. | 0:40:10 | 0:40:12 | |
I thought the tent was on the road in front of the temple. | 0:40:12 | 0:40:15 | |
I didn't know it was IN the temple. | 0:40:15 | 0:40:17 | |
I told her to escape into the temple. | 0:40:17 | 0:40:19 | |
I also told her, "Don't come home today if you can't make it before the curfew at 8pm. | 0:40:19 | 0:40:24 | |
"You should come back tomorrow." | 0:40:24 | 0:40:26 | |
Then things changed dramatically. | 0:40:27 | 0:40:30 | |
Militants near the temple complex set off fireworks. | 0:40:30 | 0:40:34 | |
-We saw these two fireworks streak out towards... -Somebody was firing fireworks? | 0:40:34 | 0:40:39 | |
-Homemade fireworks. -In the direction of the army? -Yes. | 0:40:39 | 0:40:42 | |
Then the bullets started pouring in. | 0:40:42 | 0:40:44 | |
Where were the bullets coming from? | 0:40:44 | 0:40:46 | |
-From up there. -Right up on top of the sky train? | 0:40:46 | 0:40:49 | |
All we knew was, it was from above and behind us, but now it's obvious it was from the sky train. | 0:40:49 | 0:40:54 | |
Witnesses report seeing soldiers on the sky rail above the temple. | 0:40:54 | 0:40:59 | |
These shaky pictures appear to show them | 0:40:59 | 0:41:02 | |
aiming their weapons into the grounds. | 0:41:02 | 0:41:04 | |
We were behind a pick-up truck, and the bullets were coming in over the cab | 0:41:04 | 0:41:08 | |
at such an angle and ricocheting off the ground and into the building. | 0:41:08 | 0:41:12 | |
You ran that way, yeah? | 0:41:12 | 0:41:14 | |
We ran and dove in behind... | 0:41:14 | 0:41:16 | |
There were two pick-up trucks parked perpendicular to the door. | 0:41:16 | 0:41:20 | |
TRANSLATION: When we spoke on the phone, I could hear the gunshots. | 0:41:20 | 0:41:24 | |
I was suspicious, but I didn't think it was serious. | 0:41:24 | 0:41:27 | |
I asked her why there was still shooting, | 0:41:27 | 0:41:29 | |
even though the leaders had surrendered. | 0:41:29 | 0:41:31 | |
I was worried, so I told her to get inside the temple. | 0:41:31 | 0:41:34 | |
She said, "I don't know what's going on, Mum." She told me that. | 0:41:34 | 0:41:37 | |
GUNFIRE | 0:41:37 | 0:41:40 | |
As the bullets rained down, a man was shot by the temple entrance. | 0:41:42 | 0:41:46 | |
The nurses reacted bravely. | 0:41:46 | 0:41:48 | |
TRANSLATION: We saw that the injured man was still moving, | 0:41:51 | 0:41:54 | |
so my colleagues and I brought a stretcher to rescue him. | 0:41:54 | 0:41:58 | |
As we were lifting the injured man, they kept shooting at us. | 0:41:58 | 0:42:02 | |
It isn't one or two shots, this is sustained bursts. | 0:42:02 | 0:42:06 | |
Yeah, it was repeated, | 0:42:06 | 0:42:07 | |
and every time you thought "OK, that's it, it's safe to move," it would start again. | 0:42:07 | 0:42:12 | |
So, here inside a Buddhist temple in the centre of Bangkok, | 0:42:12 | 0:42:15 | |
that has been identified by all sides as a sanctuary, | 0:42:15 | 0:42:18 | |
and people were getting shot and killed in this area between here and the gates. | 0:42:18 | 0:42:24 | |
Not even the medical tent where Nurse Ked was stationed was safe. | 0:42:28 | 0:42:33 | |
TRANSLATION: I saw Ked falling to the ground, face down. | 0:42:35 | 0:42:39 | |
I thought that Ked was crouching down to avoid the bullets, | 0:42:39 | 0:42:42 | |
but I didn't know at all that the bullets were pouring down on our medical tent. | 0:42:42 | 0:42:47 | |
In my mind, I thought my tent wasn't hit. | 0:42:47 | 0:42:49 | |
In my mind, I didn't think anybody would do it. | 0:42:49 | 0:42:52 | |
The gunfire was relentless, | 0:42:54 | 0:42:56 | |
preventing anyone from helping those inside the medical tent. | 0:42:56 | 0:43:00 | |
By the time the shooting stopped, | 0:43:00 | 0:43:03 | |
Nurse Ked, face down on the tarmac, was dead. | 0:43:03 | 0:43:06 | |
I think she thought that green cross would protect her, | 0:43:06 | 0:43:09 | |
that no-one would shoot someone who was so obviously marked as a medic. | 0:43:09 | 0:43:14 | |
But somebody up there did. | 0:43:14 | 0:43:15 | |
Three times. | 0:43:15 | 0:43:16 | |
Three bullets. | 0:43:16 | 0:43:18 | |
TRANSLATION: I kept asking. | 0:43:18 | 0:43:20 | |
I didn't believe that my daughter had died. | 0:43:20 | 0:43:23 | |
I believed, and so did Ked, that she was not going to die | 0:43:23 | 0:43:26 | |
because she was a volunteer nurse. She wouldn't be put into danger. | 0:43:26 | 0:43:30 | |
We walked back here | 0:43:30 | 0:43:32 | |
and laid out on the ground, there were six dead bodies. | 0:43:32 | 0:43:35 | |
The big concern at the time was that we were going to have more. | 0:43:38 | 0:43:41 | |
Nurse Ked was one of those? | 0:43:41 | 0:43:43 | |
We know that now, yeah. | 0:43:43 | 0:43:44 | |
At the time I didn't look, but I know now she was one of them. | 0:43:44 | 0:43:48 | |
TRANSLATION: It's unacceptable. | 0:43:52 | 0:43:54 | |
I think that they knew we were a medical team on the ground. | 0:43:54 | 0:43:58 | |
They knew that our job was to help society. | 0:43:58 | 0:44:01 | |
Even a girl who had already fallen on the ground... | 0:44:04 | 0:44:08 | |
just one shot, she was already dead. | 0:44:08 | 0:44:10 | |
They shouldn't have shot her again. | 0:44:10 | 0:44:13 | |
Nurse Ked had been shot dead. | 0:44:15 | 0:44:17 | |
So, too, her young volunteer colleague known as Bug. | 0:44:17 | 0:44:22 | |
He took an hour to bleed to death. | 0:44:22 | 0:44:24 | |
Nobody could get to him. | 0:44:24 | 0:44:26 | |
Those that tried were shot at, according to his colleagues. | 0:44:26 | 0:44:31 | |
TRANSLATION: We couldn't believe that this was Thailand. | 0:44:32 | 0:44:35 | |
My daughter was hiding in the temple. | 0:44:35 | 0:44:38 | |
She was a teacher, helping people in the temple. | 0:44:38 | 0:44:41 | |
The army dared to shoot her like that?! | 0:44:41 | 0:44:43 | |
The army denies sniping at civilians. | 0:44:46 | 0:44:48 | |
It said it found these weapons in the temple. | 0:44:48 | 0:44:51 | |
Soldiers told investigators they shot into the temple grounds | 0:44:51 | 0:44:55 | |
after being fired on from inside and around the Temple area. | 0:44:55 | 0:44:59 | |
TRANSLATION: Isn't it possible that these weapons were related to someone | 0:45:04 | 0:45:08 | |
who was in the demonstrators' area and who went to hide in the temple? | 0:45:08 | 0:45:13 | |
These people might have been involved in the deaths of the six people. | 0:45:13 | 0:45:17 | |
Those six deaths, some of them died outside the temple, | 0:45:19 | 0:45:24 | |
but their bodies were moved inside. | 0:45:24 | 0:45:26 | |
This is from interviews of many cases compiled by the investigators, | 0:45:26 | 0:45:30 | |
so therefore, saying that these six people were killed inside the temple | 0:45:30 | 0:45:35 | |
is something that still needs to be clarified by the investigation. | 0:45:35 | 0:45:39 | |
This was a designated safe area, | 0:45:40 | 0:45:42 | |
and, honestly, I spent hours in here, I never saw a gun. | 0:45:42 | 0:45:47 | |
The government's claimed that the footage of soldiers pointing their guns into the temple | 0:45:49 | 0:45:54 | |
may have been taken the following day, after troops had secured the area. | 0:45:54 | 0:45:57 | |
However, the pictures we've obtained clearly show fires raging in central Bangkok | 0:45:57 | 0:46:02 | |
at the same time as the soldiers are on the sky rail. | 0:46:02 | 0:46:07 | |
These fires had been extinguished the following day. | 0:46:07 | 0:46:10 | |
A leaked DSI report quoting named soldiers said there was proof | 0:46:13 | 0:46:16 | |
the military had been responsible for three of the six deaths. | 0:46:16 | 0:46:21 | |
Human Rights Watch say that among those killed by the army was a medic. | 0:46:26 | 0:46:30 | |
It also found that, while there were gun battles outside the complex, | 0:46:30 | 0:46:33 | |
there was no evidence the sky rail used by the soldiers | 0:46:33 | 0:46:37 | |
had been struck by fire from the temple. | 0:46:37 | 0:46:41 | |
Throughout the crisis, a joint committee of security forces and ministers decided on strategy. | 0:46:42 | 0:46:48 | |
They blamed red-shirt violence for provoking the confrontations... | 0:46:50 | 0:46:55 | |
..and denied there was a shoot-to-kill policy. | 0:46:56 | 0:46:59 | |
What about Nurse Ked, for example, who went to tend to the wounded? | 0:47:00 | 0:47:04 | |
That's one case where I'm still very much interested, | 0:47:04 | 0:47:07 | |
and as I said, things are inconclusive at the moment. | 0:47:07 | 0:47:10 | |
It wouldn't be fair for me to make any kind of judgment. | 0:47:10 | 0:47:13 | |
How is it, a year on, that it's so inconclusive? Why is it so slow? | 0:47:13 | 0:47:16 | |
It's very difficult circumstances. | 0:47:16 | 0:47:18 | |
How long did it take you to find out about Bloody Sunday? | 0:47:18 | 0:47:21 | |
Well, I'm an Irishman, I knew the facts of it pretty quickly. | 0:47:23 | 0:47:26 | |
-To come back to you, to this situation.... -But to get it confirmed. | 0:47:26 | 0:47:30 | |
You wouldn't have any problem with seeing a soldier or his commander go on trial for an abuse like that? | 0:47:30 | 0:47:37 | |
If they've abused or violated the law. | 0:47:37 | 0:47:40 | |
International reaction was muted. | 0:47:41 | 0:47:43 | |
In fact, just weeks after the clashes, Thailand was elected | 0:47:43 | 0:47:47 | |
to the presidency of the UN Human Rights Council. | 0:47:47 | 0:47:51 | |
Clearly, the world saw a different Thailand | 0:47:51 | 0:47:53 | |
to the one experienced by those demanding accountability. | 0:47:53 | 0:47:57 | |
Does it trouble you that, for many people, | 0:47:59 | 0:48:02 | |
your legacy will not be as someone who tried to further democracy in this country, | 0:48:02 | 0:48:08 | |
but who turned the guns on his own people? | 0:48:08 | 0:48:11 | |
That's not... I don't think that's how I will be remembered. | 0:48:11 | 0:48:14 | |
-Are you sure? -Yes. | 0:48:14 | 0:48:16 | |
Because a lot of people feel you've got blood on your hands. | 0:48:16 | 0:48:19 | |
If that were the description, | 0:48:19 | 0:48:21 | |
I don't think that the international community | 0:48:21 | 0:48:24 | |
would have reacted the way it did, | 0:48:24 | 0:48:27 | |
and I think some people are trying to rewrite history. | 0:48:27 | 0:48:31 | |
There's been no shortage of investigations, but the army remains untouched. | 0:48:36 | 0:48:42 | |
Top red-shirt leaders, including Thaksin, face terrorism charges. | 0:48:42 | 0:48:47 | |
As it moved to crush dissent more widely, | 0:48:48 | 0:48:50 | |
the army would accuse its enemies of threatening the monarchy. | 0:48:50 | 0:48:55 | |
The military revived an old law. | 0:48:55 | 0:48:59 | |
It's called Lese Majeste, and carries a jail sentence of up to 15 years | 0:48:59 | 0:49:04 | |
for insulting, threatening or defaming the monarchy. | 0:49:04 | 0:49:08 | |
Hundreds of cases were brought last year. | 0:49:10 | 0:49:13 | |
This is a police station on the edge of Bangkok's city centre. | 0:49:17 | 0:49:21 | |
The protesters give a hint of what's going on inside. | 0:49:23 | 0:49:26 | |
A Bangkok academic has been told to report here for questioning. | 0:49:29 | 0:49:35 | |
Writers, human rights activists and politicians | 0:49:35 | 0:49:38 | |
have all faced charges in the last year. | 0:49:38 | 0:49:41 | |
In May this year, the Thai army filed charges against Professor Somsak | 0:49:42 | 0:49:47 | |
for questioning the content of a television interview | 0:49:47 | 0:49:49 | |
given by the King's youngest daughter | 0:49:49 | 0:49:52 | |
about last year's crackdown. | 0:49:52 | 0:49:54 | |
VOICEOVER IN THAI | 0:49:57 | 0:49:59 | |
Though striking for the deference of the presenter to the Princess, | 0:49:59 | 0:50:05 | |
the controversy surrounded comments she made about the damage to buildings | 0:50:05 | 0:50:10 | |
allegedly caused by the red-shirt protesters. | 0:50:10 | 0:50:12 | |
Professor Somsak had asked why the Princess hadn't referred to civilian deaths. | 0:50:19 | 0:50:24 | |
A case like this is just one graphic example of how free speech | 0:50:26 | 0:50:31 | |
is being corralled, tightened in Thailand now. | 0:50:31 | 0:50:34 | |
And for critics of the status quo, | 0:50:34 | 0:50:37 | |
it's not just a question of choosing your words carefully. | 0:50:37 | 0:50:40 | |
It's wondering whether you should open your mouth at all. | 0:50:40 | 0:50:44 | |
They especially claim that I suggested the Royal Family | 0:50:44 | 0:50:49 | |
is biased against the red shirts or biased... | 0:50:49 | 0:50:54 | |
-got involved in politics. -Is that what you believe? | 0:50:54 | 0:50:58 | |
-Um... -Or if you give me an honest answer to that, | 0:50:58 | 0:51:01 | |
-are you afraid you'll end up in jail? -Yes, because this is exactly what... | 0:51:01 | 0:51:05 | |
-So you can't tell me the truth? -Yeah. | 0:51:05 | 0:51:08 | |
Even this quite simple question, | 0:51:08 | 0:51:10 | |
I am now in a difficult position to give a straightforward answer. | 0:51:10 | 0:51:14 | |
We're in the extraordinary position | 0:51:14 | 0:51:16 | |
of me knowing what do you think, but you can't say it. | 0:51:16 | 0:51:20 | |
Yes, this is what...one of the reasons that this law | 0:51:20 | 0:51:23 | |
is so obsolete and should be abolished. | 0:51:23 | 0:51:25 | |
-TRANSLATION: -The King never defends himself. | 0:51:29 | 0:51:32 | |
He has only done good things for Thai people. | 0:51:32 | 0:51:36 | |
Therefore, the army, every organisation and the people | 0:51:36 | 0:51:39 | |
have a duty according to the law, AND their duty as Thais, | 0:51:39 | 0:51:43 | |
to protect the monarchy. | 0:51:43 | 0:51:45 | |
That claim, to be the King's defenders, | 0:51:49 | 0:51:51 | |
has helped keep the Thai army above the law for decades. | 0:51:51 | 0:51:56 | |
But the 83-year-old King, the central figure in Thai life, is ailing, | 0:51:56 | 0:52:01 | |
and the army fears what will come in his wake. | 0:52:01 | 0:52:03 | |
They're jockeying for position | 0:52:05 | 0:52:07 | |
in preparation for the succession. It's an elephant in the room | 0:52:07 | 0:52:11 | |
that this country doesn't want to talk about. | 0:52:11 | 0:52:15 | |
Either they're so stupid, or they just don't want to see the elephant, | 0:52:15 | 0:52:19 | |
and I believe it's the latter. | 0:52:19 | 0:52:21 | |
-NEWSREEL: -This ceremony shows more clearly how the King is, indeed, the soul of his nation. | 0:52:22 | 0:52:27 | |
The centre round which army, government and religion cohere. | 0:52:27 | 0:52:32 | |
For the last 65 years, | 0:52:32 | 0:52:34 | |
King Phumiphon has been seen as a virtual god by his subjects, | 0:52:34 | 0:52:38 | |
a loved and unifying symbol for all Thais. | 0:52:38 | 0:52:41 | |
But according to leaked American cables, | 0:52:43 | 0:52:46 | |
his heir, the Crown Prince, is a far more erratic figure. | 0:52:46 | 0:52:49 | |
HE SPEAKS IN THAI | 0:52:51 | 0:52:54 | |
In these insecure times, the army is more than ever determined | 0:53:12 | 0:53:17 | |
not to be placed in the dock. | 0:53:17 | 0:53:19 | |
But now the victims have been given hope | 0:53:22 | 0:53:26 | |
by the appearance of this woman, Yingluck Shinawatra. | 0:53:26 | 0:53:29 | |
She is Thaksin's sister. | 0:53:31 | 0:53:33 | |
He calls her his clone | 0:53:33 | 0:53:34 | |
and helped bankroll and direct her campaign from exile. | 0:53:34 | 0:53:37 | |
SHE SPEAKS IN THAI | 0:53:37 | 0:53:41 | |
CROWD CHEERS | 0:53:41 | 0:53:43 | |
On the campaign trail, she promised justice. | 0:53:43 | 0:53:45 | |
I want to correct the wrong thing to the correct thing. | 0:53:47 | 0:53:50 | |
But that means that if people... if soldiers are found guilty of killing people, | 0:53:50 | 0:53:54 | |
-they will go to jail. -Yes, they have to. | 0:53:54 | 0:53:56 | |
By the legal, I have to make the judgment, | 0:53:56 | 0:53:59 | |
and the judge will have to judge on this case. | 0:53:59 | 0:54:01 | |
If Yingluck is true to her word, it'll be the first time | 0:54:06 | 0:54:09 | |
in Thailand's modern history the military is held accountable. | 0:54:09 | 0:54:13 | |
You witnessed a bloody massacre in 1976. You were sent to jail after that. | 0:54:14 | 0:54:18 | |
Was there any military person ever brought to justice for that? | 0:54:18 | 0:54:22 | |
No, never. | 0:54:22 | 0:54:23 | |
In '76 there was not even an investigation up to the present. | 0:54:23 | 0:54:29 | |
What's the consequence of there not being justice? | 0:54:29 | 0:54:33 | |
It'll happen again and again, | 0:54:33 | 0:54:35 | |
because the military and those perpetrators know that they won't be punished. | 0:54:35 | 0:54:40 | |
They get away with murder? | 0:54:40 | 0:54:42 | |
The word's "impunity". Yes. | 0:54:42 | 0:54:45 | |
Do you have any confidence that the rule of law will work? | 0:54:45 | 0:54:48 | |
It hasn't in the past, has it? | 0:54:48 | 0:54:50 | |
It's never worked. | 0:54:50 | 0:54:52 | |
Right now, it's not worked. So, that's why the reconciliation will be fair to everyone. | 0:54:52 | 0:54:57 | |
But Yingluck faces a real dilemma. | 0:55:01 | 0:55:04 | |
Bringing soldiers or their commanders to justice | 0:55:04 | 0:55:07 | |
could risk her being ousted. | 0:55:07 | 0:55:09 | |
And as if all this was not murky enough, the man behind her campaign, her brother, Thaksin, | 0:55:12 | 0:55:17 | |
has his own questions to answer on human rights. | 0:55:17 | 0:55:20 | |
-NEWSREEL: -Unable to disperse the crowd, a decision was taken to arrest 1,300 protesters | 0:55:25 | 0:55:31 | |
in the hope the insurgents could be identified. | 0:55:31 | 0:55:35 | |
Under him, | 0:55:35 | 0:55:38 | |
civil liberties were broken, political rights ignored. | 0:55:38 | 0:55:41 | |
A war on drugs was carried out | 0:55:41 | 0:55:45 | |
in which thousands of civilians were killed without trial. | 0:55:45 | 0:55:51 | |
There were massacres against people in the far south. | 0:55:51 | 0:55:54 | |
Soldiers carried out these attacks with legal impunity. | 0:55:54 | 0:55:58 | |
He actually stated that stability was more important than democracy | 0:55:58 | 0:56:03 | |
when he was Prime Minister. | 0:56:03 | 0:56:05 | |
Mr Thaksin denies charges of human rights abuse and corruption. | 0:56:10 | 0:56:13 | |
He declined to be interviewed. | 0:56:13 | 0:56:15 | |
But whoever has ruled in Thailand, impunity has been the norm. | 0:56:18 | 0:56:21 | |
SHOUTING AND GUNFIRE | 0:56:21 | 0:56:24 | |
Little wonder Bangkok is now rife with rumours of a deal | 0:56:28 | 0:56:32 | |
that would deliver amnesty for all, | 0:56:32 | 0:56:34 | |
including the military and Thaksin. | 0:56:34 | 0:56:37 | |
However, the party led by his sister says it's not a priority. | 0:56:37 | 0:56:43 | |
The chances of families of red shirts who were killed in 2010 | 0:56:44 | 0:56:49 | |
finding accountability... | 0:56:49 | 0:56:51 | |
..for the loss of their loved ones... is very low, | 0:56:53 | 0:56:59 | |
because the military is going to protect its own. | 0:56:59 | 0:57:03 | |
It's going to be a very long time | 0:57:05 | 0:57:07 | |
before the military is held to any accountability for this. | 0:57:07 | 0:57:10 | |
-TRANSLATION: -I'm afraid there won't be anything different between people who died this time | 0:57:10 | 0:57:16 | |
and people in the past. After some time, they will use the amnesty law. | 0:57:16 | 0:57:20 | |
The people who ordered the killing and the army were not judged guilty, | 0:57:20 | 0:57:24 | |
and people all died for nothing. They only have a monument. | 0:57:24 | 0:57:27 | |
What I can say is, I am afraid they will use this kind of law. | 0:57:27 | 0:57:30 | |
I will fight against it, no matter which government is elected. | 0:57:30 | 0:57:34 | |
The journey for the truth is lonely and invariably futile. | 0:57:40 | 0:57:45 | |
Yet, for the families of the dead, it must go on. | 0:57:46 | 0:57:49 | |
Why do you keep doing this? | 0:57:53 | 0:57:55 | |
Why do you keep up this... I mean, it's a struggle now to get any information. | 0:57:55 | 0:58:00 | |
Because you want to know, you want to understand what happened. | 0:58:00 | 0:58:05 | |
That's what, probably, he would have done for me, if I were in his place. | 0:58:06 | 0:58:11 | |
The injustice of the past hovers over the present in Thailand. | 0:58:15 | 0:58:19 | |
For here, what is covered up is all too easily repeated. | 0:58:19 | 0:58:25 | |
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd | 0:58:57 | 0:59:01 | |
E-mail [email protected] | 0:59:01 | 0:59:05 |