Thai police arrest anti-government protest leader

The Associated Press , Bangkok | Fri, 10/03/2008 5:41 PM | World

Thai police detained an anti-government protest leader on insurrection charges Friday in the first arrest since demonstrators stormed and began occupying the grounds of the prime minister's office in late August.

Police arrested Chaiwat Sinsuwongse when his car stopped at a highway toll booth, police spokesman Surapol Tuantong said. Police have not attempted to enter Government House, the prime minister's compound, to make arrests there.

Thousands of members of the protest group, the People's Alliance for Democracy, have occupied Government House since Aug. 26. They have said they will not leave until allies of deposed Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra are no longer in power.

Police issued arrest warrants on Aug. 27 for nine of the group's leaders on charges of insurrection, conspiracy, illegal assembly and refusing orders to disperse. Insurrection, the legal equivalent of treason, carries a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment.

The protest alliance has accused the government of Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat of acting as proxy for Thaksin, his brother-in-law, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup.

Somchai replaced Samak Sundaravej, who was forced from office last month when a court ruled that he violated a constitutional conflict of interest provision by accepting money for hosting a TV cooking show while in office.

Because of the siege of the prime minister's office compound, Somchai has been forced to set up a temporary office at Bangkok's old airport.

Thaksin, a billionaire telecommunications tycoon, was toppled by the Sept. 19, 2006, military coup after months of demonstrations led by the same protest alliance, which demanded he step down because of alleged corruption and abuse of power.

However, Thaksin's allies swept back into power in December elections.

Thaksin has since fled to London to escape a string of corruption charges.

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