They were performing a pantomime when officers arrived and took them to Pathumwan police station. All eight were released about 6.30pm last night.

“They intercepted us probably because they feared we would find the truth. Justice can prevail only when the truth is revealed,” said Phayao after being headed off by police.

Meanwhile, the People’s Information Centre: April-May 2010 Crackdowns issued a statement expressing its firm stance on the need to have the facts concerning the incidents revealed to society to pave the way for “true reconciliation”.

The centre, which is compiling facts about the incidents in parallel with the government, claimed that the government of Abhisit Vejjajiva used excessive force in suppressing the demonstrators, with 67,000 military personnel deployed plus at least 117,000 live bullets used, out of 597,500 that were withdrawn from military warehouses.

At least 84 people, including 10 military officers, were recorded as being killed in the incidents, with more than 1,400 injured.

More than half of the dead civilians, they claimed, were killed by bullets, mainly in the upper parts of their bodies. It said a court found that six people killed in Wat Pathum Wanaram would have died as a result of the military operation.

The centre also made a counter-claim based on the court’s investigations into the deaths of 18 demonstrators. It said that the protesters had been accused of possessing heavy weapons, but in fact they had no such weapons.