Trial resumes for suspects in 2015 Bangkok shrine bombing

By TASSANEE VEJPONGSA
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court has resumed the long-delayed trial of two members of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority accused of carrying out a 2015 bombing at a Bangkok landmark that killed 20 people. The defendants pleaded not guilty when the trial began in 2016 and said they suffered mistreatment and torture in jail after their arrests. Another 120 people were injured in the Aug. 17, 2015, bombing of the Erawan shrine, which is popular among Chinese and other tourists. Thai authorities say the bombing was revenge by a people-smuggling gang whose activities were disrupted by a crackdown. But some analysts suspect it was the work of Uyghur separatists angry that Thailand had repatriated scores of Uyghurs to China, where they face persecution.