The lawyer for the prime suspect in investigations into August’s deadly Bangkok bomb blast said on Wednesday (September 30) that his client was told to plant the bomb by another man.
Fourteen foreigners were among those killed in the attack, the worst incident of its kind in Thai history. It dealt a fresh blow to a tourism industry recovering from the impact of political protests last year.
Authorities said on Friday (September 25) the man they arrested in August – referred to both as Bilal Mohammed and Adem Karadag – had confessed and was the yellow-shirted suspect seen in security footage placing a backpack at the shrine moments before the blast.
Chuchart Kanphai, Bilal’s lawyer, said a man named Abdullah Abdulaman told his client to place the bag at the shrine.
“He said Mr. Abdullah Abdulaman, who helped him enter Thailand, was the one who ordered him to place the bag (at the shrine),” said Chuchart.
Chuchart added that his client willingly gave his confession.
“Mr. Adem (or Bilal Mohammed) confessed himself that he is the one who planted the bomb at the Erawan Shrine, by himself,” he said.
Chuchart added the suspect was originally from Urumqi of Xinjiang Region, China.
“Today, he said that he’s definitely a Uighur, not a Turkish. But all of his family members have moved to Turkey already,” he said.
Bilal entered Thailand using a fake Turkish passport, the lawyer said.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack and police have repeatedly said they did not believe militants were involved, ruling out a motive of revenge for the repatriation in July of 109 Muslim Uighur people to China.
The Uighur issue is sensitive for the government and any link between the bomb and the deportation at China’s behest could expose it to criticism that its foreign policy led to the blast.
Uighurs, who are mostly Muslim, say they flee China’s western Xinjiang region due to persecution. Beijing rejects that.
