BANGKOK: The lawyer for a suspect in last year's deadly bombing of a Bangkok landmark says ahead of a Tuesday court appearance that his client was tortured to elicit a confession.

Lawyer Chuchart Kanpai says Bilal Mohammad, also known as Adem Karadag, avows he was tortured by security personnel into falsely confessing to the August 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine that killed 20 people, most of them tourists.

Bilal and Mieraili Yusufu, described by officials as ethnic Uighurs from western China's Xinjiang region, were indicted last November on 10 charges, including conspiracy to explode bombs and commit premeditated murder.

Thai authorities say the bombing was revenge by a people-smuggling gang whose activities were disrupted by a crackdown, but some analysts suspect Uighur separatists were behind it.