"Wirote" asks "Phumtham" to tighten the screws to protect the safety of soldiers after a clip of violent beatings went viral, saying that such barbarism must be enforced by the Torture Act. He plays the role of a fortune teller, and can guess that the investigation results will come out and admit it, but the guilty will receive a light punishment. Mr. Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, a party-list MP of the Prachachon Party and chairman of the House of Representatives' Military Affairs Committee, gave an interview about the video clip of soldiers being beaten that was shared on social media. He admitted that he was concerned. When the Royal Thai Army says it will investigate, most of them respond quickly on the day the clip is released. However, the results of the investigation are often delayed. Most importantly, the punishment is often less than it should be. In this case, he watched the clip and saw the use of a stick to hit and kick and stomp on the soldier. He understood that the rank of the soldier in the pictur e was not yet known, but he was lying on the ground. He understood that it was intended to be exposed for other soldiers to see as well. 'No matter what he did wrong, I think if there is disciplinary punishment, it will be punished according to that discipline. It is not a barbaric act. I think when the investigation results come out, it will say that there was a breach of discipline and there may be disciplinary punishment. If there is a criminal case, it will be like assault, which is not a severe punishment. I confirm that if we continue to protect each other like this, punish with light punishment like this, this kind of barbaric behavior that we see will continue. I think that the training supervisors, trainers, assistant trainers, and low-ranking officers would not dare to do this kind of behavior if the commanding officers were monitoring and supervising well,' said Mr. Wirot. Mr. Wiroj added that in this case, he thought the Anti-Disappearance Act should be enforced to deal with the perpetrators, na mely the trainer or assistant trainer, as well as the commanding officer, according to Article 42. As for whether it will be brought to the Military Affairs Committee or not, he asked to wait and see the results of the investigation first to see where it happened. He understood that it happened a long time ago, in August of last year. However, this kind of behavior is barbaric. The behavior of stomping and holding a stick falls under torture. When asked if no one dared to come out and reveal it in the past, when the video clip was posted, it was too late and the perpetrator could not be prosecuted, Mr. Wirot said that this matter reflected several things. First, there must have been such barbaric behavior many times until it became unbearable. He understood that this area must have been a regular torture area for many people, similar to a stomping field, to the point that whenever the camera was pulled out, it was found. Second, there was fear, so the revelation had to be discharged. Third, the revelation in this era was possible because society was paying more attention to this issue. Mr. Wiroj also sent a message to Mr. Phumtham Vejjayachai, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense, who has assumed the new position, that on the other hand, it is also an intention to challenge Mr. Phumtham's stance on what to do with the welfare and safety in the military camp. Because if there is an intention to reduce the number of military conscriptions and increase the number of volunteers enlisting as soldiers, the images of soldiers being beaten and tortured in the camp like this will probably decrease. 'Therefore, it is a great challenge. I would like to ask Mr. Phumi to please tighten the screws a bit. Please take serious action to protect the safety of the soldiers in the camp. Otherwise, you will not be able to entice people to volunteer to be food,' said Mr. Wirot. Source: Thai News Agency
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