Aussie In Thai Hunger Strike

[george]

Aussie in Thai hunger strike

BANGKOK: -- An Australian man in a Thai jail has begun a hunger strike in an effort to convince the US authorities to prosecute him on drugs charges.

Martin Garnett, 37, served his 4000th day behind bars on Tuesday, marking the day by refusing food. He says he is prepared to die rather than face another 15 years inside.

He has been indicted in Indianapolis on charges he ran an internet drug ring from jail, conspiring to ship more than 1kg of heroin to the US from Bangkok in 2000.

He says US failure to act on the charges has prevented him from returning to Australia under the prisoner exchange program. His application was rejected in March.

Garnett, known to prison authorities as Mitchell Ian Blake, was sentenced to 40 years after being caught at Bangkok airport in 1993 with that name on a false passport and 4.7kg of heroin strapped to his body.

He has been held in nine different prisons and is now in notorious Klong Prem, where he has to squeeze his 195cm frame into a space 180cmx52cm to sleep.

The former Saab salesman from the Sydney suburb of Petersham has had two reductions on his sentence but Klong Prem governor Prayat Jingjit said yesterday he must serve the remainder of the 26 years and eight months before his extradition to the US could be considered.

Garnett believes the Thai authorities are stalling because they would lose face over the prison crime ring.

"I consider myself an idiot, an absolute imbecile," he said yesterday.

"The dumbest thing I ever did was wanting to live better inside a Thai prison," he said, pointing out that he needed help to operate the alleged online drug ring.

"I can't go to a post office, I can't send heroin to anywhere. If I was on the internet, there was only one way I could have been. I don't have a bank account and I can't get cash from anyone. If I'm involved I'm certainly not alone.

"I should get a chance to go to court and answer the charges. I'm prepared to plead guilty for what I've done."

Garnett said the hunger strike would stop only if he died or was transferred to the US or Australia. "I'd rather die than stay here."

Garnett spent 10 years waiting for Thailand and Australia to sign the prisoner exchange treaty.

"It was the only thing that kept me going for a decade, and then it came and I watched everyone else leave."

--Herald Sun, AU 2004-09-09

[jhj2000]

At least he knows his rights, but something tells me I should have no sympathy for him.

[castelleone]

sympathy for sure not. But maybe mercy?

[sendbaht]

No matter... my heart goes out to him...

[penzman]

Something else may kill him in there before the hunger strike does...

[francois]

hi'

forgiveness is a word Thais should learn someday ...

not feeling pity for what he has done, but feeling sad that Thai reject everything from him ...

francois

[sriracha john]

hi'

forgiveness is a word Thais should learn someday ...

not feeling pity for what he has done, but feeling sad that Thai reject everything from him ...

francois

I would submit that the Thais DID exhibit a degree of forgiveness by not executing him via firing squad for trafficking 10-1/2 pounds of heroin.

[siam]

Here here SJ,

How many lives would his haul of drugs taken,I feel sorry for him,but you do the crime,If you get caught you do the time.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Here here SJ,

How many lives would his haul of drugs taken,I feel sorry for him,but you do the crime,If you get caught you do the time.

ain't that the truth

[Highwayman]

For those of you with access to BBC World:

The Real Bangkok Hilton

Bangkwang jail in Bangkok is one of the world's most notorious prisons. Until now, the reality of life there remained a secret, but for this documentary, cameras are being allowed inside for the first time. The World Uncovered meets some of the 7,000 inmates struggling to stay sane in cramped and overcrowded conditions, and the patients shackled to their beds in the prison hospital. Thai society is reluctant to donate medicine to them as people think those behind bars deserve to suffer.

(Duration: 50 minutes)

Saturday 11th September at 1510 (Thai time)

Repeated: Saturday 11th September at 1910; Sunday 12th September at 0210

Less 7 hours to convert to GMT.

[Pattayaguy1999]

At least he knows his rights, but something tells me I should have no sympathy for him.

The harsh sentences for drug smuggling has gone beyond punishment into revenge. They are confining prisonors longer for drugs than for violent crime against other citizens. This guy has already spent 10 years in prison for a stupid mistake that harmed no one. Deport him to OZ and free up some space for criminals that murder, maim and rob others.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

At least he knows his rights, but something tells me I should have no sympathy for him.

The harsh sentences for drug smuggling has gone beyond punishment into revenge. They are confining prisonors longer for drugs than for violent crime against other citizens. This guy has already spent 10 years in prison for a stupid mistake that harmed no one. Deport him to OZ and free up some space for criminals that murder, maim and rob others.

Didn't he run a mail order drug ring from within a Thai prison ? Calling him dumb doesn't do justice to his level of stupidity. A real slow learner.

[rod_kalashnikov]

 

[penelope]

At least he knows his rights, but something tells me I should have no sympathy for him.

The harsh sentences for drug smuggling has gone beyond punishment into revenge. They are confining prisonors longer for drugs than for violent crime against other citizens. This guy has already spent 10 years in prison for a stupid mistake that harmed no one. Deport him to OZ and free up some space for criminals that murder, maim and rob others.

So who is more reponsible for killing people, ruining lives,inflicting pain and misery upon inoccent family members etc...

1) individuals involved in drug distribution or

2) violent criminals

Without people to deal/distribute the drugs...the growing and production would cease.

Let him stay in jail.Let his sentence deter more people from following in his footsteps.Let the inhumanity of his incarseration conditions be an even greater deterrent. The more drug distributors they keep out of society, the better.

Just my opinion.

[george]

Aussie prisoner halts hunger strike

BANGKOK: -- An Australian prisoner will abandon a month-long hunger strike in Bangkok today after coming to the conclusion no one cares about his fate because he is a criminal.

Martin Garnett, 37, stopped eating last month after 4000 days in Thai jails.

He hoped to persuade Thai authorities to send him to Australia under the prisoner-exchange treaty, or to the US, where he faces charges he trafficked heroin to Indianapolis via an internet drug ring he ran from his cell. But yesterday he admitted his protest was a failure.

"Not only did I not achieve anything, I now see the whole criteria of what I was out to achieve was wrong," Garnett told The Australian.

"I am a criminal and nobody cares what happens to a criminal. If he wants to stop eating and die, then good luck to him. My selfishness is monumental. The only people who have been affected by this are the people who love me. I want to apologise to my friends and family -- they are the only people who are suffering."

Garnett, a former Saab salesman from Petersham in Sydney's inner west, was arrested at Bangkok airport in 1993 with 4.7kg of heroin strapped to his body. He was sentenced to 40 years, but has received two reductions and now has 15 years and eight months left to serve.

A month ago, as he began the hunger strike, he said he would rather die than continue to live in Thai jails. But yesterday he said he had found peace with the acceptance he does not deserve special treatment.

--The Australian 2004-10-07

[Up2U]

I am surprised he is still alive.

He ran an Internet drug-ring while in jail? Who helped him? Not other prisoners, but people in authority. I would have thought that as soon as he was found out by DEA / whoever, he would have had a nasty accident to cover the tracks of his co-conspirators. Except if they want to use him again, of course.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

He could have a good luck charm ... maybe

[dtoodnut]

R U KIDDING?

I hope the US govt. does everthing in their power to let the guy suffer!

He trys to sell Heroin while in Jail? I am sure that there are ways for one to hang themselves in a Thai Jail. That would be his best way out.

[dr_Pat_Pong]

Smuggle a rope in a cake for the purpose.

[HedKeeQuai]

poor guy. If people use drugs responsibly they won't die from them. So don't blame drug dealers for users stupidity. When there's demand, there's supply. The only difference is if the government regulates it (alchohol, tobacco) or they don't (heroin). I'm sure in Thailand a lot of the illegal stuff is regulated covertly by the government.

Then they bring in BS penalties like Death/Life in Prison for smugglers. If someone was smuggling cynaide with intent to sell to drug users, then I could understand it. 10 years would deff teach someone a lesson, especially in a crappy Thai jail.

[Sumitr Man]

don't blame drug dealers for users stupidity

I've read this 6 times - still I cannot believe what I'm actually reading....

[dr_Pat_Pong]

poor guy. If people use drugs responsibly they won't die from them. So don't blame drug dealers for users stupidity. When there's demand, there's supply. The only difference is if the government regulates it (alchohol, tobacco) or they don't (heroin). I'm sure in Thailand a lot of the illegal stuff is regulated covertly by the government.

Then they bring in BS penalties like Death/Life in Prison for smugglers. If someone was smuggling cynaide with intent to sell to drug users, then I could understand it. 10 years would deff teach someone a lesson, especially in a crappy Thai jail.

How long have you been a clown ?

[eljeque]

A few years ago in the the USA

How many people died each year from drug use? About 3,500

How many people died each year from alcohol use? At least 20,000

Companies state that alcohol use by employees costs them a fortune,

but the cost of employee drug use is small.

I neither use, nor do I wish others to use drugs or alcohol, but it is really none of my business.

I can sell cigarettes and the buyers can die in 20 years, but I will not be prosecuted for assisting in suicide, but there is no doubt that over along period of time, cigarettes will damage an individual's health to such an extent that it may very well kill them.... and cigarettes are legal.

Should these people receive psychological assistance for their behavior?

A mean, they must be crazy.... or addicted.

McDonald's and all of the other fattening foods that kill people over an extended period of time - It is not just plain old everyday food, but the garbage that American companies manufacture and fast food outlets sell. This "food" is poison. Over the lifetime of the consumer, he will experience decreasing health, clogged arteries, and the list goes on and on. It may very well cause his death. He must be insane to eat this stuff knowing the information that is readily available. It is not food in the traditional sense. It is not designed for nutritional purposes. Should these companies be closed down and their CEOs jailed for assisting in the deaths of thousands of people?

Simply do with drugs what is done with alcohol - tax them at a rate low enough that the penalty for avoiding the taxes makes it worth paying them.

[Khun Ngo]

^

You are very right!

Drug sellers seldom FORCE their customers to use drugs.

If nobody wants to buy them, there would be no dealers.

The DEMAND was there first, the 'retailnetwork' came later.

Parents that bring their children up in a way that let's them

become complete loosers should rather be prosecuted.

Car dealers do not get punished, but people drive themselsves

to death.

Creditcard salesmen lure peolple into uge debts, making them

slaves similar to drug users, - no action taken here.

[IsaanAlex]

Didn't he run a mail order drug ring from within a Thai prison ? Calling him dumb doesn't do justice to his level of stupidity. A real slow learner.

If we read between the lines it appears as if he's saying that he tried to set it up to live better within prison-maybe 'better' means 'continue to stay alive', according to his reference.

Likely he was forced to do whatever he did regarding the online biz by his Thai captors or others who hold some type of power over him.

This might be the reason he's not extradited; if there were a trial, it all comes out. Best to leave it all on ice.

As an aside, many of these jailers are true <deleted> and criminals.

I spoke to a guy in jail in Chiang Mai. He said that he never saw drugs in Thailand until he went inside a Thai jail. In there the jailors are the ones who traffic it.

For a fact, he was not incarcerated due to drugs, but another prisoner was. This man, a German, was more likely to pay his way out-even though he got caught with 1+ kilo of drugs.

If you get caught with drugs at an airport, nothing will help you. Inland, possbly money will do the trick.

The fact is that the easiest way to end up in a Thai prison for true drug trafficking is to work outside the network-run by top government, police and military people...

And that is the real reason they go to jail-or are executed by government or sub-contracted hitmen, as we saw in the purge last year-because you are not 'playng' on the right team, or are in competition for power or profits with them...

IA

[12call]

If this not so happy chappy IS running an internet based drug supply unit from his CELL,why would the people allowing him to continue help his cause.

He is the GOLDEN GOOSE after all and there are many golden eggs!!!

[samken]

At least he knows his rights, but something tells me I should have no sympathy for him.

The harsh sentences for drug smuggling has gone beyond punishment into revenge. They are confining prisonors longer for drugs than for violent crime against other citizens. This guy has already spent 10 years in prison for a stupid mistake that harmed no one. Deport him to OZ and free up some space for criminals that murder, maim and rob others.

So who is more reponsible for killing people, ruining lives,inflicting pain and misery upon inoccent family members etc...

1) individuals involved in drug distribution or

2) violent criminals

Without people to deal/distribute the drugs...the growing and production would cease.

Let him stay in jail.Let his sentence deter more people from following in his footsteps.Let the inhumanity of his incarseration conditions be an even greater deterrent. The more drug distributors they keep out of society, the better.

Just my opinion.

I think ppl wif a Clean background does not feel what others have suffered. Nobody ask anyone to use Dope, there are more addicts in The State than any elsewhere. One hand doesn't clap loud, its take two to Clap. Check this out. "In a tragic turn of events, Mitchell's sister [Holly] had a complete breakdown following Mitchell's imprisonment. She was hospitalized but died of an overdose [her medication] on 11 October 1998, coincidentally, her mother's birthday. Holly was an amazing woman who had a number of hit records on the Australian charts in the 1990's. Mitchell's brother spent several months being treated for trauma after he saw a photograph in a Sydney newspaper of Mitchell in heavy leg chains.

Mitchell's mother, (65), has endured over a decade of heartache and hopes that some day soon, her son will finally return home." God Bless You..

[QED]

Any reason for unearthing a 7 year old thread? Do you have any developments to report?

[siampolee]

"Play with fire you burn your fingers," or " If you can't do the time don't do the crime,"

Heroin is a particularly nasty substance and I am sure that the prisoner never gave a thought to the misery and degradation he was part of creating as long as the money rolled in and he was free to walk the streets.

It seems as if he is a habitual offender with no respect for authority by cocking a snook at authority as is displayed by the fact he is accused of running a drugs supply ring whilst in prison.

Mercy and consideration for him,?

What about his victims, throw away social rejects are they to the woolly minded two baht intellectuals who defend the prisoner ?

Usual facts emerge , 'The victims are labelled criminals, then the criminals are labelled victims.

Sympathy in my dictionary is twixt " S**t and syphilis regarding this creature. "

[webfact]

this topic is over 7-years old

//CLOSED//