Thai court acquits several anti-Thaksin protesters who occupied Bangkok airports in 2008

By JINTAMAS SAKSORNCHAI
Associated Press

BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai court has acquitted several protesters who had occupied Bangkok airports in 2008 on rebellion and terrorism charges related to the demonstration. The protests disrupted travel in and out of the country for more than a week. The court fined some of the defendants for violating an emergency decree but ruled Wednesday that the protesters had neither caused destruction nor hurt anyone. The protesters from the People’ Alliance for Democracy were popularly known as the Yellow Shirts. They were demanding the resignation of a government loyal to Thaksin Shinawatra, a former prime minister who had been ousted by a military coup. He lived several years in exile abroad before returning to serve a prison sentence last year.