2 Bangkok bomb suspects appear in court with one claiming he was tortured

Two members of China’s Muslim Uighur minority pleaded innocent to carrying out the deadly bombing of a Bangkok landmark last year, with the lawyer of one saying his client claims to have been tortured to elicit a confession. The two men — Bilal Mohammad, 31, and Mieraili Yusufu, 27 — face eight charges related to the bombing, including conspiracy to explode bombs and commit premeditated murder. Twenty people, including 14 foreign tourists, were killed and more than 120 injured in the August attack at the Erawan Shrine, one of the deadliest acts of violence in Bangkok in decades.

I couldn’t say what my exact address in China is because I’m afraid of the Chinese government.

Bilal Mohammad

The suspects made their first appearance at a military court in the case since November, when they were read the charges against them. Bilal, also known as Adem Karadag — the name on a fake Turkish passport he was carrying when he was arrested — faces two additional charges of violating immigration law by entering Thailand illegally. Bilal’s lawyer, Chuchart Kanpai, told reporters after the court session that his client said he had been tortured in late September, about three weeks after his arrest, to pressure him to admit that he was the person seen in surveillance video planting the bomb.

He was tortured by officials. He didn’t know if they were soldiers or police because they were non-uniformed. Back then, he confessed so that he wouldn’t be tortured again. He was just saying it.

Bilal’s lawyer, Chuchart Kanpai

Bangkok suspects