Thai protester killed by gunfire in Bangkok clashes -medical center

A male protester aged 52 was killed by gunfire in street clashes in the Thai capital on Tuesday, the Erawan Medical Center, which monitors city hospitals, said on its website.        

The protester was the second person killed in violence that erupted as authorities launched an operation to clear anti-government demonstrators from streets in the centre of Bangkok.        

Earlier, a Thai police officer was killed by a gunshot to the head as authorities launched an operation to clear anti-government protesters from streets in central Bangkok on Tuesday, Thailand's national police chief said.          

"One policeman has died and 14 police were injured," national police chief Adul Saengsingkaew told Reuters.  "The policeman who died, died while being sent to hospital. He was shot in the head."        

Also on Tuesday, Thailand's anti-corruption body said it had filed charges against Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra relating to irregularities in the government's rice-buying scheme, and it summoned her to appear to face the charges on Feb. 27.
   
"Although she knew that many people had warned about corruption in the scheme, she still continued with it. That shows her intention to cause losses to the government so we have unanimously agreed to charge her," Vicha Mahakhun, a member of the National Anti-Corruption Commission, said in a statement.
   
Yingluck is head of the National Rice Committee. Her government introduced the present scheme in 2011, paying farmers way above the market price for their grain.


REUTERS