Family, lawyers demand release of migrant workers in Thailand

[geovalin]

The Court of Appeal in Thailand’s Surin province sentenced ten Cambodian migrant workers to six years in jail last week for forging and using fake passports and immigration stamps. The Human Rights and Development Foundation issued a statement in defence of the jailed migrants.

 

“HRDF’s lawyer contends that these individuals are poorly educated, which led them to fall prey to a fraud syndicate,” the statement read. “Furthermore, with no access to lawyers from the beginning of the process, they pleaded guilty to the charges without fully understanding their implications.” Thai immigration police arrested them on April 28, after the workers presented the fraudulent documents at Chongjom checkpoint in Thailand’s Gabcherng district.

 

On July 24, the Surin Provincial Court convicted and sentenced all ten workers for multiple offences, resulting in a 12 year sentence for each worker. Since the workers admitted to all charges, the sentences were reduced by half, leaving each one with a six year sentence.

 

read more http://www.khmertimeskh.com/93101/

 

 

-- © Copyright Khmer Times 30/11