Japan urges Thai gov't to investigate photographer's death

A senior Japanese embassy official Monday urged the Thai government to speed up investigation into the death of a Japanese photographer killed during dispersal of " red-shirt" protesters.

Hiroyuki Muramoto, who worked with Reuters news agency, was shot dead while filming the confrontation between the government security forces and the anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), better known as "red-shirt" group in April.

According to Minister attached to the Prime Minister's Office Ongart Klampaiboon, Nobuaki Ito of Political Affairs at the Japanese Embassy in Bangkok asked Thai authorities to press ahead with the case during a meeting with Thai officials, but did not try to intervene in Thailand's judicial process.

In response to the question whether the Japanese diplomat has outlined when the investigation should be completed, Ongart said there is no deadline given by the envoy.

When asked if investigation reports of the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) leaked by opposition party-list MP and key "red-shirt" leader Jatuporn Prompan have triggered the reaction from the Japanese Embassy, the minister said the Japanese side did not totally believe the information in those reports.

Jatuporn claimed earlier to have received leaked DSI reports which indicated that troops were probably responsible for some deaths of people killed in Bangkok during the "red-shirt" rallies. He also handed over those reports to the Japanese Embassy.

Ninety-one persons, both security personnel and protesters, were killed and almost 1,900 were wounded in a number of clashes between troops and "red-shirt" demonstrators during the ten-week long rallies against the Democrat-led coalition government. Among these were Hiroyuki who was shot on April 10 at Khok Wua intersection.

Source: Xinhua