Thai court sentences 2 Uyghur men to death over 2015 Bangkok bombing that killed 20

BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Thailand on Thursday convicted and sentenced to death two members of China’s Muslim Uyghur minority over a 2015 bombing at a Bangkok landmark that killed 20 people and injured more than 120.

Yusufu Mieraili and Bilal Mohammad were arrested shortly after the Aug. 17, 2015, bombing of the Erawan shrine, which is a popular tourist destination, particularly for visitors from China.

The men were charged with a variety of offenses, including murder, attempted murder and illegal possession of explosive materials. They allegedly were linked by video, fingerprints and other evidence to the bombing.

Four judges presided over the ruling at Bangkok South Criminal Court. The court ruled the two were found guilty due to overwhelming evidence against them and were unable to provide substantial evidence proving otherwise.

After the judges left the courtroom, Mieraili shouted in broken Thai that he rejected the ruling and was innocent.

“I mourn for Thailand,” he said. “I did not receive justice … I ask Thai people to help me.”

Mieraili learned Thai while in detention, according to his lawyer. He also speaks English and on Thursday was asked to translate the proceedings into Uyghur for Bilal because only an English interpreter was available in court. The trial was repeatedly delayed because of difficulties finding suitable translators.

Chuchart Kanpai, one of the defense lawyers, said they will appeal as there are still several aspects of the case that were not taken into consideration.

The two men allegedly confessed during the initial questioning but pleaded not guilty when the trial began in 2016. The proceedings originally took place in a military court before the case was transferred to the civilian Bangkok South Criminal Court in 2019.

The men said they suffered mistreatment and torture in jail after their arrests. But the judges said Thursday there was no evidence of torture and that investigators did not appear to have coerced the confessions.

China on Thursday said it welcomed the verdict.

“The terrorist bombing that year killed 20 people, including seven Chinese citizens, and injured more than 100 others. The perpetrators were utterly inhumane and guilty of heinous crimes," Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Lin Jian said. “China supports Thailand in conducting the trial in accordance with the law and severely punishing the perpetrators.”

Several human rights groups have criticized the procedures and the lengthy trial. In 2023, the International Federation for Human Rights based in France submitted a petition to the United Nations alleging numerous violations of human rights and due process, including the lack of a legal basis for the arrests and discriminatory treatment.

Authorities identified 17 suspects in connection to the blast but only three were apprehended. Charges against a Thai woman were dropped in 2024 due to lack of evidence.

Police said they believe Mieraili detonated the bomb minutes after a backpack containing the device was allegedly left at the shrine by Bilal, who also is known as Adem Karadag.

Thai authorities have said the bombing was revenge by a people smuggling gang whose activities had been disrupted by the police. Thailand cracked down on human traffickers earlier in 2015 after abandoned camps for Rohingyas fleeing persecution in Myanmar and economic migrants from Bangladesh were found in the jungles along the Thai-Malaysia border.

However, some analysts suspect the bombing was the work of Uyghur separatists angry that Thailand had forcibly repatriated scores of Uyghurs to China in July 2015. Many Uyghurs try to escape persecution and tight control in China with the help of professional smugglers.

Thailand deported 40 Uyghur asylum seekers back to China in 2025, which drew international criticism.

The shrine’s popularity among Chinese tourists lent support to the theory that the bombing had a political element.

Associated Press writer Huizhong Wu contributed to this report.

Visitors pray at the Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday, June 10, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

FILE - Police officers escort Yusufu Mieraili, yellow shirt, outside Hua Lamphong railway station in Bangkok, on Sept. 9, 2015. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

FILE - Police officers escort Bilal Mohammad, center, during a reenactment at Erawan Shrine in Bangkok, on Sept. 26, 2015. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit, File)

Lawyer Chuchart Kanpai talks to reporters after he left a courtroom at Bangkok South Criminal Court in Bangkok, Thailand, Thursday, June 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Sakchai Lalit)

FILE - Explosive Ordnance Disposal officers enter the Erawan Shrine after an explosion in Bangkok, on Aug. 17, 2015. (AP Photo/Sackchai Lalit, File)

The U.S. Department of Education said Tuesday it was investigating allegations that a high school teacher in the Denver school district required students of the same sex to kiss in front of a class, and a district in Washington state displayed vials of testosterone in an LGBTQ Pride Month exhibit.

The probes will determine whether the Bethel School District, about an hour south of Seattle, and Denver Public Schools violated a federal law that gives parents the right to opt out of school evaluations on topics including sex behavior or attitudes, the department said.

“Parents must be the decision-makers in matters impacting the most intimate parts of their children’s lives,” Frank Miller, director of the Student Privacy Policy Office at the Education Department, said in a statement.

Denver schools spokesman Scott Pribble said in a statement the district put the teacher on administrative leave and completed an investigation after students raised concerns in March 2025. The statement did not specify what prompted students' concerns.

The Board of Education fired the teacher in May, he said.

“The safety, emotional well-being, and dignity of our students are the absolute highest priorities of DPS,” the statement said. “Our actions to date have been wholly consistent with those priorities.”

Bethel School District said in a statement that the vials in a display at Graham-Kapowsin High School in June were not authorized by school administrators and were immediately removed and turned over to the Pierce County Sheriff's Office. Some vials had a “small amount of unknown liquid,” the district said.

Testosterone is prescribed for gender-affirming care. The district added that it will cooperate fully with the Education Department's investigation.

The two districts are in states headed by Democrats. President Donald Trump is a Republican.

The Trump administration has opened dozens of investigations into schools that make accommodations for transgender and LGBTQ+ students, often taking aim at districts that allow students to use bathrooms or locker rooms that align with their gender identities. It accused Denver schools last year of violating Title IX protections against sex-based discrimination over such a bathroom policy.

Trump officials have also pushed against schools accused of keeping information about students’ gender identities confidential from their parents, which the department says is a violation of federal privacy laws.

The Education Department tied the new investigations to National Parents’ Day on Sunday. The agency said it will be announcing “significant actions” involving the enforcement of parental rights laws through the week.

Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Carly Cappetto said Bethel school administrators identified the student who brought the vials to campus. No charges were filed, and the juvenile student was referred to a drug and alcohol diversion program, Adam Faber, a spokesman for the Pierce County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, said in an email. He said the vials were not tested for testosterone, which is a controlled substance.

The district said in its statement it is reviewing its protocols for overseeing displays to “ensure all school materials strictly align with our educational standards and community expectations.”

“Our primary focus remains on maintaining a safe, respectful, and focused learning environment for all of our students,” it added.

Associated Press writer Collin Binkley in Washington contributed to this report.

FILE - The U.S. Department of Education building is photographed in Washington, Dec. 3, 2024. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)