Last week the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) decided to press murder charges against former Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban in connection with their role in a military crackdown against anti-government red-shirt protesters during April and May of 2010.
Abhisit has now officially become the first Thai prime minister ever to have been charged for crimes against the people.
The DSI's case centers on taxi driver Phan Khamkong, who was shot dead by the army in May 2010. The case will pave the way for a wider investigation of Abhisit government violence. More than 90 people were killed in the unrest and more than 2,000 injured, most of them civilians.