BANGKOK: Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand was questioned by police on Friday over a deadly military crackdown on mass opposition protests in Bangkok last year while he was in office.

Abhisit smiled but made no comment to reporters as he arrived at the Bangkok Metropolitan Police headquarters, where he was summoned as a witness.

About a dozen protesters gathered outside with signs that read “Murderer” and “Whoever gave the kill order must face karma.”

More than 90 people, mostly civilians, were killed and nearly 1,900 were wounded during the April and May 2010 rallies, which drew about 100,000 “Red Shirt” demonstrators at their peak.

On Thursday, police grilled Abhisit’s former deputy, Suthep Thaugsuban, who was in charge of national security at the time of the demonstrations.

It is the first time that top members of the previous government have been summoned for questioning over their handling of the protests, which ended when soldiers firing live rounds stormed the fortified rally site.

Thailand now has a new government allied to the Red Shirts’ hero, fugitive former leader Thaksin Shinawatra, whose sister Yingluck is premier and has raised the idea of an amnesty for politicians including her brother.

Her deputy Chalerm Yubamrung last month said that Thai authorities had clear evidence that government troops were responsible for the death of a Japanese cameraman, one of two foreign journalists killed during last year’s crackdown.

Abhisit’s government in-voked emergency rule to deal with the unrest, giving broad powers to the military, which deployed thou-sands of troops to the capital.