Southern lawyers decry 'unfair' justice
Say system aims to keep suspects in jail.
Despite some suspects being exonerated in court cases on criminal charges, they are likely to remain in detention because more charges are laid at a later date setting off a whole new judicial process, the group said.
Charges against them are staggered and not filed at once, meaning suspects cleared of some charges remain in detention when more charges are laid when ordinarily they would be granted release, the group added.
Adilan Alee-ishoh, director of the MACF Yala branch, said the foundation has discussed the issue with police, prosecutors and several high-ranking members of the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre.
An agreement with state agencies was reached a while back to lay as many of the charges as possible at once so proceedings could be quicker and fairer for the accused.
However, the agreement has never been put into practice, Mr Adilan said.
He said the foundation issued its call to urge officials to review judicial procedures for the sake of justice.
The foundation highlighted a recent case in Yala.
On Oct 20, the Yala Provincial Court threw out a case against three suspects -- Marosalee Jebu, Sobueree Hama and Budeemana Silae – accused of robbing a van in July last year. The court cited a lack of evidence.
However, they remained in detention because they faced other charges related to an earlier bombing in Yala's Betong district, Mr Adilan said.
Betong police had obtained more warrants for their arrest and took them from the court to Betong police station.
On Oct 22, prosecutors sought their detention for 12 days, citing the need for an investigation, and opposed their bail request as they were considered a flight risk.
The suspects are still being detained under a Betong Provincial Court order, Mr Adilan said.
"Agencies connected to the judicial process are aware of the problem but we are still waiting for action," Mr Adilan said.
He said authorities should gather all charges and file them at once and if the defendants can prove their innocence in court, they should be released.
Authorities should not bring charges one by one against suspects as this suggests an intention to keep suspects behind bars without giving them an idea of when they will be released, Mr Adilan said.
"There have been many instances in which people in the three southern border provinces feel they have been unfairly treated by the judicial process," he said.
The issue of fairness should be addressed to provide a better atmosphere for peace talks to end the insurgent violence in the South once and for all, he added.