Thailand to provide security for judges

Thailand to provide security for judges

THAILAND: Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pledged on Monday to provide additional security for judges in Thailand's insurgency- hit Muslim south, where a prominent judge was killed last week.

The slain judge, Raphin Ruankaew, was the most senior official to be killed in a wave of violence in the region that has left more than 340 people dead since January, mostly police and soldiers.

"We'll probably give them security when they're at home, and when they go to work. There aren't many judges, so we can protect them," Thaksin told reporters in Bangkok.

He said the additional security would be provided by police. Thaksin said the judges would also be allowed to exercise their right to carry firearms, if they wished.

However, the prime minister did not respond to a call by a senior judicial officer on Monday to set up a special security force to guard court officials and their families.

Chat Cholavorn, secretary general of the Criminal Court, said security officers working in the southern provinces near Malaysia were preoccupied with routine patrols and were unavailable to guard court officials.

"The government then should be open minded by allowing us to form self-defense units," he told reporters. -- AP