Thai prosecutors dropped charges against the five-man crew of an aircraft accused of smuggling weapons from North Korea, saying yesterday that the men would be deported to preserve good relations with their home countries.
The Attorney-General’s Office said the decision was made after the governments of Belarus and Kazakhstan contacted the Thai Foreign Ministry and requested the crew’s release to face prosecution at home.
“To charge them in Thailand could effect the good relationship between the countries,” said Thanaphit Mollaphruek, a spokesman for the Attorney-General’s Office. “We have decided to drop all the charges and deport them to their home countries.”
“To charge them in this case would not be a benefit to Thailand,” the spokesman said.
The crew — four Kazakhs and a Belarusian — were expected to be released later in the day, their lawyer Somsak Saithong said.
Their Ilyushin Il-76 cargo plane was intercepted during a Dec. 12 refueling stop in Bangkok after loading 35 tonnes of weapons aboard in the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. Thai authorities said they acted on a tip from the US.
The UN imposed sanctions in June banning North Korea from exporting any arms after the communist regime conducted a nuclear test and test-fired missiles. North Korea is believed to earn hundreds of millions of dollars every year by selling missiles, missile parts and other weapons to countries such as Iran, Syria and Myanmar.
The crew has denied any knowledge of arms aboard the plane, which Thai authorities say included explosives, rocket-propelled grenades and components for surface-to-air missiles. The crew says they believed they were carrying oil-drilling equipment.
All five were charged with illegal arms possession, but Thai authorities had repeatedly said the charges were expected to be stiffened once an investigation wrapped up.
In recent weeks, however, the tone from Thai authorities changed.
Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya indicated earlier this month the men would be released, telling reporters in Geneva the government had “suggested to the office of the attorney-general to release them because the UN resolution does not oblige Thailand to ... bring up charges on the pilots and the crew.”
Yesterday’s decision was likely to spark international criticism.
The weapons’ ultimate destination remains a mystery, though Thailand has said the plane’s final destination appears to have been Iran. Experts have also voiced concerns that authorities in the former Soviet republics have turned a blind eye to illicit activities of air freight companies that use Soviet-era planes to fly anything anywhere for a price.
A Thai government report to the UN Security Council, leaked to reporters late last month said the aircraft was bound for Tehran’s Mahrabad Airport.
However, Thai government spokesman Panitan Wattanayarkorn said subsequently that “to say that the weapons are going to Iran, that might be inexact.”
“The report only says where the plane was going to according to its flight plan, but it doesn’t say where the weapons were going to,” he said. “It’s still under investigation, and the suspects are under our legal system.”
Investigations by The Associated Press in several countries showed the flight was facilitated by a web of holding companies and fake addresses from New Zealand to Barcelona designed to disguise the movement of the weapons.
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