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THE NATION: Police arrest Sulak a



Politics 

      Police arrest Sulak and
      clear Yadana site

      Civil rights activist Sulak Sivaraksa and
      about 50 other demonstrators opposing the
      Yadana gas pipeline in Kanchanaburi were
      arrested yesterday after police used water
      cannon to break up their protest. 

      Sulak was charged with obstructing state
      officials while the others were released
      after being questioned by Kanchanaburi
      governor Direk Uthaiphol. 

      Last night Sulak was still being detained at
      Thong Pha Phum police station after he
      refused to arrange bail for himself. 

      Police moved into the protest site at KP28
      along the pipeline at around 2.30 pm to ask
      Sulak and the protesters to move away.
      They finally used water cannon from fire
      trucks to disperse the group and local
      authorities secured the site. 

      Earlier the project developer, the Petroleum
      Authority of Thailand (PTT), had formally
      complained to police that Sulak and the
      protesters, mostly students, were violating
      the Petroleum Act by blocking construction
      of the pipeline. 

      Police moved into the protesters' camp site
      and ''invited Sulak to talk with the governor''
      but did not immediately issue any arrest
      warrants, Pipob Udomittipong, an
      associate of Sulak, said. 

      ''The governor simply pointed to the
      students and told the police to arrest them
      without even charging them with a crime,''
      Pipob said. ''They were treated very
      un-democratically.'' 

      The Union For Civil Liberty, a pro-human
      rights group, issued an open letter
      denouncing the police action, saying it
      violated the principle of basic rights and the
      Constitution. 

      The president of the PTT's natural gas
      operations, Piti Yimprasert, said the state
      oil company did not ask police to arrest the
      protesters. He said officials simply went to
      Thong Pha Phum and Jarakhe Puak police
      stations and accused Sulak of blocking
      construction. 

      ''We only wanted to show the Burmese
      government and gas production consortium
      that we are not ignoring the protesters,'' Piti
      said. 

      Piti was not surprised to learn of Sulak's
      detention yesterday. 

      ''It's very good news,'' he said. ''That means
      we can go ahead and start construction.'' 

      Police have closed off the road which
      provides access to the protest site at Ban
      Huay Pak Kok, although workers for the
      contractor building the pipeline were
      allowed to pass through the checkpoint,
      according to Pipob. 

      A committee set up by the prime minister to
      review the project concluded last week that
      the PTT had failed to carry it out with
      transparency, and recommended that its
      environmental impact be closely monitored.

      But Pipob claimed the workers building the
      pipeline do not seem to care about
      protecting wildlife. 

      ''We saw many Royal Crabs [a rare,
      endemic species] being destroyed,'' he
      said. ''It seems the committee's
      recommendations are not being heeded at
      all.'' 

      Pipob warned a confrontation was brewing
      between the authorities and villagers at Ban
      Jarakhe Puak, many of whom oppose the
      project. 

      Interior Minister Sanan Kachornprasart said
      Sulak's detention and the removal of his
      supporters from the site KP28 had averted
      a possible clash between his group and
      around 200 proponents of the project who
      had moved to the site. 

      BY JAMES FAHN and PENNAPA
      HONGTHONG 

      The Nation