subject: Police ruled the death of Reuters cameraman by Thai troops [print this page] Police ruled the death of Reuters cameraman by Thai troops
Thai police said on Thursday that there is no evidence that troops killed cameraman Hiro Muramoto, Reuters, last year, confirming a recent change of preliminary investigations, according to which the fatal bullet could have fired by a soldier.
After reviewing a report from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) of Thailand, police said they could not determine whether Muramoto, a Japanese national aged 43, was killed by troops while covering antigovernment demonstrations in April last year.
Last November the ISD had said that a soldier might have fired the shot, but now says that the type of bullet used is not one who was shot by soldiers that day. The latest police investigation reached the same conclusion as the ISD.
Muramoto died of a gunshot wound to chest high speed while covering clashes between protesters redshirts and troops in the old district of Bangkok on April 10 .. He was one of 25 people, mostly protesters, have died that night.
Mysterious gunmen dressed in black were mixed with the protesters and fired at the troops.
Reports from witnesses in an initial investigation of the ISD which was obtained by Reuters in December said the shot that killed Muramoto came from the direction of the soldiers. One witness said he saw "a flash from the gun of a soldier" and then saw Muramoto fall with a shot in the chest while filming the troops.
The head of the DSI Tharit Pengdith, said investigators could not determine who fired the shot that killed a cameraman. On Thursday, however, he said the police investigation showed that soldiers were not responsible.
"We will continue with the investigation. At this point, however, it is clear that the police investigation by members of security forces were not involved," he said.
The editor in chief of Reuters, Stephen J. Adler said the inconclusive results make it even more imperative that there be full transparency in the investigative process.
"We urge the Thai government and all relevant authorities to promote a more thorough investigation, thoughtful, objective and transparent approach to death (Muramoto)," Adler said in a statement. "The family of Muramoto-san and his colleagues at Reuters deserve to know how this tragedy occurred and who were responsible."
A report published last month by the newspaper Bangkok Post reported that the head of ISD received a visit from the Chief of Staff of the army "to complain about the department's initial finding," which attributed the death of the journalist to soldiers.
It is likely that the most recent statement of the police reopen the discussion about how exactly Muramoto was killed and the identity of the masked gunmen seen moving between the demonstrators and firing from above at night when the cameraman died.
Tharit, DHS, said the researchers will now focus the research on red shirts and the "men dressed in black," and not about the soldiers.
