BANGKOK: A Thai court today summoned a former military commander and issued arrest warrants for six retired senior security personnel after their no-show at a hearing in a criminal lawsuit over the deaths two decades ago of 85 Muslim protesters.

Those implicated in the case are accused of murder and unlawful detention over their mishandling of a 2004 demonstration in the town of Tak Bai, when seven protesters were killed by gunfire and 78 more were crushed or suffocated to death while piled on top each other in army trucks.

The lawsuit, launched by the families of 48 of the victims, was accepted by a court in August, just two months away from the expiry of the statute of limitations on Oct 25.

The high-profile incident in Narathiwat province near Malaysia dogged then Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the case implicates his former regional army commander Pisan Wattanawongkiri, who is now a lawmaker for the Thaksin-backed ruling Pheu Thai Party.

Thaksin's daughter, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, is now prime minister.

According to a document seen by Reuters from the court in Narathiwat, arrest warrants were issued for all but Pisan, who has parliamentary immunity and was instead summoned to attend the next hearing on Oct 15.

"If the accused don't show up at the next hearing, the court will likely have more measures so the justice process can continue," said Rassada Manurassada, one of the lawyers for the victims' families.

Thailand's government at the time expressed regret at the Tak Bai deaths but denied wrongdoing, while police had initially said some protesters were armed.

The crackdown in Tak Bai occurred when it was under martial law and was one of the deadliest incidents during a separatist insurgency that re-ignited that same year and has since killed more than 7,600 people.

  - Reuters