Five years after a Reuters video journalist was shot and killed during a protest in Thailand, a court Thursday said its long-delayed inquest into his slaying was unable to determine if the fatal shot was fired by Thai soldiers or protesters.
The court's inconclusive findings were likely to fuel critics who say the military government now running Thailand is trying to whitewash the events of 2010, when the army staged a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
Japanese cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto was shot on April 10, 2010, while covering the worst political violence Thailand had experienced in years. Thai soldiers armed with live ammunition and rubber bullets fired into the crowd to dislodge protesters from encampments in the capital. The army has accused protesters of firing live rounds and throwing grenades during the clashes.
The country's Department of Special Investigation released a report in 2011 saying Muramoto's death did not appear to have been caused by security forces, a reversal of preliminary findings that raised questions on whether authorities were trying to absolve the military.
On Thursday, the Bangkok South Criminal Court said its own inquest could lay no blame. "It is not known who committed the action" since investigators could not determine the specific type of weapon or bullet or trajectory the shot was fired from, according to the inquest.
The court said it could determine only that the 43-year-old Muramoto was killed by a high-velocity bullet that entered his upper left chest and exited from the back of his right arm.
Thailand has been criticized for the slow pace of investigations into more than 90 deaths that took place during mass protests in 2010. Another 1,400 people were injured, many with bullet wounds. Muramoto was one of two journalists killed during 10 weeks of mass protests and street clashes that turned parts of the capital into a war zone, with certain area declared "live fire" zones by the military.
Jessada Jandee, a lawyer who represented the families of Muramoto and two protesters also killed that day, called the court's finding "unexpected" and said the families wanted to find a way to appeal.
Thai authorities have a long history of shielding military personnel from prosecution in political bloodsheds. Separate inquests since 2010 have blamed some of the deaths on Thai soldiers, yet no soldier or military official has been held accountable.
In a different inquest on Thursday, a Thai court found a male protester was shot dead during an anti-government demonstration in 2013 but the inquest could not identify the shooter.
The 2010 protests were led by so-called Red Shirt anti-government protesters who supported ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup. In 2011, Thaksin's sister, Yingluck, won a landslide election that eventually sparked protesters from the other side of Thailand's political divide, which ended with another coup on May 22, 2014.
Former army commander Prayuth Chan-ocha is now Thailand's prime minister. Prayuth led last year's coup, and has been criticized for one-sided policies that penalize Red Shirt protest supporters and sympathizers to the Shinawatra family. He has promised elections for next year.
This content appears as provided to The Globe by the originating wire service. It has not been edited by Globe staff.