Bangkok Bomb Suspect: 'I'm Not An Animal'
A suspect in last year's deadly Bangkok bombing has broken down on his way into court, telling media: "I am not an animal".
Adem Karadag and Yusufu Mieraili, two ethnic Uighur Muslims from China, arrived at court on Tuesday dressed in orange jumpsuits and guarded by police.
As he was led him into a military court, a shaven, shackled and barefoot Karadag shouted: "I'm human, I'm human."Inside, he told through his interpreter that he had been beaten twice this month while in custody, lifting his shirt and pointing to bruises .Karadag's lawyer requested he be transferred, something the judge agreed to consider.
A stony-faced Mieraili pleaded as he emerged from a prison van outside court: "We're innocent, help us, help us.
"Where are the human rights?"
Twenty people were killed and more than 120 injured in the 17 August bombing at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine. Five of the victims were from China and two from Hong Kong.
Police say Karadag, 31, was seen on CCTV sitting on a bench at the shrine, taking off a bulky backpack and then walking away just before the blast.
Mieraili, 26, is accused of delivering the backpack bomb.
Karadag, also known as Bilal Mohammed, and Mieraili deny the charges against them.
More than 250 witnesses could be called to give evidence at the coming trial, which may take more than a year.
No group claimed responsibility but some suspect the attack was linked to sympathisers of the Uighur Muslim minority, angry at the Thai junta's deportation of 109 of their people to China the previous month.
Police have ruled out terrorism as a motive, saying the bombers were part of a network trafficking Uighurs and that the bomb was retaliation after a Thai crackdown on the trade.
Arrest warrants have been issued for 15 others, eight of whom are thought to have ties to Turkey.
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