Adem Karadag, also known as Bilal Mohammed, is due to appear at a military court today, along with a second suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, to formally hear the charges. Police said both men had confessed to having a role in the Aug 17 explosion.

A lawyer for Karadag, said his client was coerced into confessing that he took part in the attack. Most of the victims were foreign tourists, raising concerns that the country’s lucrative tourist industry could suffer.

“At the time he was tortured and under pressure. That is why he confessed to the charges against him,” lawyer Schoochart Kanpai said after visiting Karadag in detention.

“He still maintains he has no involvement in this. The only charge he accepts is illegal entry.”

Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the junta, doubted whether the two suspects had been tortured while in military custody.

“I am fairly certain nothing happened to the suspects while they were in military custody,” he said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which Thai authorities have said was in retaliation for a crackdown on human smuggling gangs and not a terrorist attack.

But some security experts say the bomb was in retaliation for Thailand’s forced repatriation of more than 100 Uighurs to China in July rather than in response to a crackdown on human smuggling gangs.

– Reuters