Uighur pair deny Bangkok bomb charges

(Bangkok, AFP) Two Chinese Uighurs said by police to have admitted a deadly bombing at a Bangkok shrine denied involvement in the unprecedented attack when they appeared handcuffed and shackled in a Thai court Tuesday.

Bilal Mohammed, also known as Adem Karadag, and Yusufu Mieraili were barefoot during the plea hearing in the military court.

A judge read the charges of attempted and premeditated murder, possession of illegal weapons and illegal entry to the pair through a Uighur translator.

Both said they were not guilty of the bombing charges, although Mohammed conceded he had entered the country illegally.

“I'm not guilty... but I've been in prison for six months,” a disconsolate-looking Mieraili added.

The August 17 bomb killed 20 people and wounded scores more at a shrine popular with ethnic Chinese tourists.

A convincing motive has yet to be established for an attack that dented Thailand's key tourist industry and spread fear through a politically febrile country that is under military rule.

Police say the two men initially admitted their roles in the bombing.

Mohammed, who told the court he was 31 and a Chinese citizen from the Uighur ethnic minority, is accused of being the man seen in CCTV footage wearing a yellow T-shirt and placing a backpack at the Erawan shrine moments before the explosion.

Mieraili, 26 and also a Chinese Uighur, was the second of the two to be arrested.

During questioning authorities say he confessed to delivering the backpack bomb to another man who planted the device.

 

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