BANGKOK, April 9 (TNA) – A Thai court on Friday issued arrest warrants for 17 anti-government Red Shirt leaders of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) on charges of defying the Emergency Decree by invading Bangkok’s prime commercial area of Ratchaprasong.

Top UDD leaders Veera Musikapong, Nattawut Saikua, Weng Tojirakarn, Adisorn Piengkat, Kwanchai Praipana and Gen Khattiya Sawadipol are among the 17 accused.

Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a State of Emergency on Wednesday after a group of red-shirted protesters led by Arisman Pongruangrong stormed the Parliament, forcing the House session to end, despite the enforcement of a tough Internal Security Act (ISA).

Mr Abhisit himself left the Parliament compound before the protesters arrived, while Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, other Cabinet members and MPs remained there and had to scale the back walls to escape.

The State of Emergency, in effect in Bangkok and some districts of the nearby provinces of Samut Prakan, Nonthaburi, Pathum Thani, Nakhon Pathom and Ayutthaya, allows the authorities to arrest the protest leaders suspected of supporting moves which could lead to an emergency situation, in order to prevent any possible disruptive incident, including sabotage.

The red-shirted protesters began the group’s mass rally in the Thai capital on March 14, demanding that Prime Minister Abhisit dissolve Parliament and call a fresh election.

The UDD key leaders intensified their campaign against the government by sending the group’s supporters to block the prime shopping area, Ratchaprasong intersection, last Saturday after two rounds of negotiations with the premier to find solutions to the country’s political crisis ended in a deadlock.

The prime minister said he will dissolve the Parliament in nine months after the charter amendment is accomplished, but the Red Shirt leaders insisted that the premier must dissolve the house within 15 days.

The Ratchaprasong siege by the UDD protesters paralysed traffic, as well as forced the closure of luxury department stores and the offices in the area. (TNA)