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Two Chinese Uyghur men were sentenced to decease connected Thursday (June 11, 2026) for carrying retired a 2015 onslaught connected a Bangkok shrine that killed 20 people, a long-awaited verdict successful Thailand's deadliest bombing case.
A Thai tribunal convicted Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed of premeditated and attempted execution for their relation successful planting a weaponry astatine the fashionable Erawan Shrine successful Bangkok's commercialized bosom successful August 2015.
Thailand indicts 2 for deadly Bangkok bombing
The deadly blast tore isolated the tract wherever worshippers and tourists had gathered, injuring much than 100 radical and leaving the shrine littered with motorbike fragments and singed debris. Multiple Chinese tourists were among the dormant erstwhile explosives, seemingly near successful a backpack, detonated.
Thai constabulary spot Turkish nexus to Bangkok blast
"The defendants committed a azygous enactment that violated aggregate laws. The tribunal truthful imposed the harshest punishment disposable nether the law, the decease sentence," 1 subordinate of the four-judge sheet said connected Thursday (June 11, 2026) arsenic the lengthy verdict was work out.
The defendants, some Chinese nationals who arrived successful tribunal successful situation garb, were acquitted of charges stemming from a abstracted bombing astatine a pier successful Bangkok's Charoen Nakhon area.
Following the verdict, Mieraili said, "RIP Thailand's justness system. I don't judge immoderate of this. I didn't bash thing wrong." Choochat Kanpai, the defendants' lawyer, told reporters the defendants "will entreaty the ruling due to the fact that determination are galore aspects of the lawsuit that the tribunal has not afloat considered, including the attraction of the defendants during the proceedings".
The decade-long proceedings implicit the horrific onslaught was beset by delays owed to coronavirus disruptions and problems securing translators. The blast came weeks aft Thailand's then-ruling junta forcibly repatriated 109 Uyghurs to China, wherever rights groups accidental the Muslim number look taste and spiritual repression.
The timing prompted speculation that the onslaught was portion of a revenge crippled against a state that had been a cardinal transit hub for Uyghurs arsenic Thailand's then-military leaders grew person to Beijing.
Shortly aft the bombing, constabulary named 17 suspects, but lone Mieraili and Mohammed were initially apprehended. Thailand's junta authorities were criticised for a murky probe that appeared to upwind down soon aft the apprehension of the 2 men. They went connected proceedings successful 2016, accused of planting the explosives. But the proceedings, which person progressive hundreds of witnesser testimonies, person been delayed aggregate times, erstwhile due to the fact that the translator for the accused was deed with drugs charges.
In 2017 a Thai pistillate called Wanna Suansan was detained connected accomplishment successful Bangkok connected a warrant linked to the shrine blast making her the 3rd named fishy arrested by police. She was charged with attempted murder, associated execution and possession of bombs and weapons, but was acquitted successful 2024.
Uyghurs, a Turkic minority, hail from China's westernmost province, Xinjiang. Beijing is accused of wide quality rights abuses successful the region, including the incarceration of astir 1 cardinal Uyghurs and different Muslim minorities. It denies the allegations.
Thailand deported dozens of Uyghurs to China successful February 2025 contempt warnings from quality rights groups that they would look persecution connected their return, drafting swift condemnation from the United Nations.
Erawan Shrine remains a fashionable gully for Chinese tourists to the kingdom's capital, but nary AFP spoke to up of the verdict said they knew astir the case. A Chinese antheral who said helium came to the shrine "every year" declined to reply erstwhile asked astir the 2015 bombing. "It's bully to travel present to pray," helium said earlier walking away.
