Thai court jails men for Laos border attack


BANGKOK, March 19 (Reuters) - A Thai court said on Tuesday it fined and imprisoned 28 members of an armed group which attacked a Laotian border post two years ago, in a move likely to upset neighbouring Laos which had called for their extradition. 

Some of the men will be released as soon as April because the prison terms were back dated to when they were first detained, the court said in a statement. 

The defendants, who are now seeking refugee status, were in a group of around 60 heavily armed men who seized an immigration and customs building in the south of communist-ruled Laos on July 3, 2000. 

The men, believed to be from the little-known Laotian anti-government Neutral Justice and Democratic Party, held the building for five hours before Laotian soldiers fired their way in, forcing the men to flee into surrounding countryside in Thailand and Laos. 

Five of the group, one Laotian and four Thais, died in the gun fight and 28 were caught by the Thai authorities. The whereabouts of the others remains a mystery. 

Laos has called on Thailand to extradite the 28 men since they were arrested. But the Thai government has insisted that Thai courts handle the cases. 

A lawyer for the Laotians told reporters his clients were in the process of seeking refugee status from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). 

The UNHCR is due to make a decision in April, when most of the men will be released. 

The provincial court of Ubon Ratchathani, 650 km (406 mile) northeast of Bangkok, said it gave 16 Laotians a back-dated 21-month jail term for illegally entering Thailand. 

The 16 are due to be freed on April 3. 

A former officer in the Lao army, before the 1975 communist takeover, was handed a jail term of three years and nine months, for illegal entry and possession of weapons. 

One Thai was handed a three-year jail term for possession of weapons, while 10 of his compatriots were freed with fines of between 3000 baht and 4000 baht ($69.06-$92.08) for entering and leaving the country without following proper procedures. 

(US$1 = 43.44 baht) 

08:33 03-19-02



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