AFP, BANGKOK: Two Chinese Uighurs yesterday denied involvement in a deadly shrine bombing in the Thai capital, and a lawyer said one had been beaten up and threatened with deportation to force an earlier confession.
Investigators had also compelled Bilal Mohammed to dress up and wear a wig so he resembled a CCTV image of the prime suspect in the blast, according to a statement issued on his behalf.
Mohammed, also known as Adem Karadag, and Yusufu Mieraili arrived barefoot, handcuffed and shackled at their plea hearing in a military court.
A judge read charges including premeditated murder and possession of illegal weapons to the pair through a Uighur translator.
Both said they were not guilty of the bombing charges, although Mohammed -- the suspected bomber -- admitted one charge of entering the country illegally.
"I'm not guilty... but I've been in prison for six months," a disconsolate-looking Mieraili added.
The August 17 bomb killed 20 people and wounded scores more at a Bangkok shrine popular with ethnic Chinese tourists.
A convincing motive has yet to be established for an attack that dented Thailand's key tourist industry and spread fear through a politically febrile country that is under military rule.