BANGKOK
A court in Thailand’s predominantly Muslim south has handed death sentences to five people accused of insurgency.
Local media reported Thursday that the Pattani Provincial Court found the men guilty Wednesday of shooting four soldiers dead and seriously wounding two others in an attack in Pattani’s Mayo district on in July 2012.
The four-hour trial was attended by friends and families of the accused who burst into tears upon hearing the verdict. Security forces in Pattani were ordered to tighten security Thursday to curb any possible moves by sympathizers seeking revenge, especially at government buildings and schools.
According to the Bangkok Post, police in Sai Buri district found slogans used by insurgent groups, such as "Our Pattani" and "Hey Siam, return the land," spray painted onto a bridge and a concrete barrier Thursday morning. They were written in the Malay dialect of the southern provinces, Yawi, accompanied by translations in Thai.
In the July 2012 attack, 18 gunmen riding three pickup trucks opened fire on six military patrol members on board three motorcycles.
The provinces of Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat, where 80 percent of the population is of Malay Muslim origin, have been facing a rejuvenated separatist insurgency since January 2004 that has seen more 6,000 people killed – mostly civilians - and at least 10,700 injured.
Thailand's military, who seized power May 22, have expressed a desire to restart a peace dialogue with insurgent leaders – an initiative first launched by the overthrown civilian government of Yingluck Shinawatra.
Progress, however, seems slow as no date for a meeting has been set, months after the junta’s announcement.
Officials said that the new dialogue would be held secretly, contrary to those under Yingluck’s government which were held in full view of the press.
The region was an independent sultanate until the 19th century and was only formally annexed by Buddhist-majority Siam (Thailand's previous name) under the terms of a 1909 Anglo Siamese agreement.
In the 1950s, a policy of forced assimilation provoked deep tensions between the central state and local Muslims, with the situation deteriorating in the 1960s when Thai leader Sarit Thanarat tried to control education in Islamic schools – triggering the formation of a separatist insurgency.
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