Missing Translator Delays Bangkok Shrine Bomb Trial

BANGKOK, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News -23rd Augst,2016) - The trial of two Chinese Uighurs accused of killing 20 people when they allegedly bombed a Bangkok shrine was postponed Tuesday because the men still do not have a translator. The delay is the latest snag in a cryptic case that has so far shed little light on the horrific attack in Thailand's capital last year that also left 100 people wounded. More than a dozen ethnic Chinese were among the dead when explosives -- apparently left in a backpack -- detonated in a Hindu shrine popular with tourists, in August 2015. The blast came weeks after Thailand's junta forcibly repatriated 109 Uighurs to China, where rights activists says the Turkic-speaking Muslim minority face cultural and religious repression.

Thailand had long been a transit hub for Uighurs fleeing China, most heading for Turkey.

But since the 2014 coup, which sparked criticism from western allies, Thailand's military leaders have grown closer to Beijing. Junta authorities have been criticised for a murky investigation that appeared to wind down shortly after the arrest of the two men, leaving more than a dozen key suspects at large. Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammed have denied all charges, and have accused their jailers of beating them and denying them halal food in the military prison where they have been held for the past year.

Authorities deny the two men have been mistreated.