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.
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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 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)
PARIS (AP) — Ukrainian fighter pilots and troops took pride of place in France's national Bastille Day celebrations Tuesday as a massive parade showcased support for Ukraine and symbolically flexed European military muscle.
On President Emmanuel Macron’s last Bastille Day as president, he hosted around 30 other leaders for an event that appeared aimed at showing both Russian President Vladimir Putin and U.S. President Donald Trump that Europe is united and stepping up to defend itself.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was given an ovation from the assembled European leaders and his country's troops got the biggest cheers of the day from crowds on the tree-lined Champs-Elysees avenue. Zelenskyy and Macron shared repeated hugs at the end of the parade.
France's biggest national holiday coincided with raging forest fires and a red-alert heat wave that forced the cancellation of traditional fireworks and firefighters’ balls — and with a highly anticipated World Cup semifinal pitting the national soccer team against Spain.
Here’s what to know about Bastille Day this year.
It’s celebrated on July 14 because that’s the day Parisians stormed the Bastille fortress and prison in 1789, helping spark the French Revolution that overthrew the monarchy and sent King Louis XVI and his queen Marie-Antoinette to the guillotine.
The Bastille Day holiday is central to the French calendar and national identity. Presidents use it to vaunt France’s accomplishments, mayors across the country host village festivals and families gather for holiday picnics.
The centerpiece is the Paris parade beneath the Napoleon-era Arc de Triomphe and along the Champs-Elysees, which inspired Trump to stage his own parade last year.
A huge French tricolor flag hanging below the monumental arch rippled in the wind as a military band on horseback rode down the tree-lined avenue followed by Macron standing in an open military vehicle to kick off the parade.
Spectators wore hats and brandished small fans to fend off the heat as a formation of air force planes roared overhead trailing red, white and blue smoke.
Zelenskyy joined Macron along with some 30 other heads of state or government in the special viewing area for the parade.
Ukrainian troops marched along the cobblestoned avenue, and Ukrainian co-pilots trained in France were on board two Mirage 2000B fighter jets alongside French air force pilots.
“I feel very proud for the fact that they’re here and for the fact that we’re marching alongside of them and I think it as well it will create better ties with them and NATO and to be a part of that history,” 21-year-old U.K. soldier Lance Cpl. Patrick Risso told The Associated Press, speaking of the Ukrainian involvement.
On the ground, the parade opened with around 500 troops from the ″coalition of the willing″ grouping of countries that have pledged to help with Ukraine’s postwar security. Many served in NATO operations, and NATO's chief was also in attendance.
Macron said Monday night that it’s a ″great honor″ to welcome to the parade ″all the partners in the coalition of the willing and our Ukrainian friends who will march with us and illustrate its strategic reawakening and our unity.″
The foreign fighters in combat fatigues and dress uniforms marched with their national flags, in a break with tradition.
In the skies, aircraft from Germany, the United Kingdom, Poland, Denmark, Greece, Sweden, Norway, Spain and Italy took part.
The parade set a record in terms of number of troops: The Paris military governor said 7,600 troops were marching this year, compared with 5,810 in 2025. Thousands of soldiers started taking up positions early Tuesday, many taking selfies as helicopters flew overhead.
As the parade wound down, France’s attention turned to Tuesday’s standoff against Spain in the soccer World Cup semifinal in Texas. As Macron greeted crowds on the Champs-Elysees, spectators chatted with him about France's chances of victory.
The French tricolor is everywhere — in sidewalk cafes and bars, and the hundreds of fan zones set up in cities and small towns around France. They started filling up hours before the match.
Bastille Day also coincides with the annual Tour de France cycling race, which adjusted the timing of Tuesday's stage to ensure that the finish line arrivals wouldn't compete for viewers with the parade.
Forest fires are raging in the Fontainebleau forest south of Paris and in areas of southern France, as the country suffers through its third heat wave this year.
As a result, authorities in some regions — including the French capital — banned fireworks and firefighters' balls customarily held around Bastille Day.
The Eiffel Tower's fireworks and drone show was maintained, however, and held Monday night, including a drone formation shaped like the Statue of Liberty — a gift from France to the United States.
Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet and Angela Charlton in Paris contributed.
French President Emmanuel Macron speaks with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy as they leave after the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/Pool photo via AP)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations late Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
French President Emmanuel Macron, center, and General Chief of Staff of the French armed Forces Fabien Mandon stand in the command car as they review troops during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
A French flag is on display after the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue, in Paris, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Michel Euler)
French soldiers march during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue, in Paris, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Jets from the acrobatic Patrouille de France fly during the Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, centre right, greets Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiyy before the start of the annual Bastille Day military parade in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/Pool Photo via AP)
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, stands in the command car with General Chief of Staff of the French Armed Forces Fabien Mandon during the annual Bastille Day military parade on the Champs-Elysees avenue in Paris, France, Tuesday, July 14, 2026. (Benoit Tessier/Pool Photo via AP)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations late Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations late Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
Fireworks and drones illuminate the Eiffel Tower in Paris, during the eve of Bastille Day celebrations, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla)
French President Emmanuel Macron delivers his traditional address to the armed forces on the eve of the Bastille Day parade at the Ministry of Defense in Paris, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, Pool)
French President Emmanuel Macron greets senior military officers after his traditional address to the armed forces on the eve of the Bastille Day parade at the Ministry of Defense in Paris, Monday, July 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Thomas Padilla, Pool)
