Belgian Man Arrested In Pattaya

[george]

Belgian man arrested in Pattaya after escaping foreign courts five years earlier

PATTAYA: -- Belgian national Michel Altruy, 55, was arrested October 16 at his Jomtien Nivate home. He was wanted in Belgium for embezzlement.

Pol. Maj. Gen. Panya Mamen, tourist police commander announced that he had received information from Thai-Belgian Embassy officials, through Interpol, that Michel Altruy was residing in Pattaya.

Michel Altruy was arrested in Pattaya and will be escorted back to Belgium to face charges of embezzling money from a trust fund.

Altruy had fled a court case in Brussels, Belgium, where he was sentenced to 5 years in prison for embezzling funds from a Belgian trust. An arrest warrant for Altruy was issued from the Thai criminal courts on August 18 of this year.

Pol. Col. Supapol Arunsit, tourist police squad 3 commander led a team of officers to Altruy’s Jomtien Nivate home where they waited for the Belgian. When Altruy exited his house, police called out to him to inspect his passport. Once a positive identification was made, they served Altruy with the arrest warrant.

It was revealed that Altruy fled his homeland in the wake of his conviction to set up a charter boat business in Pattaya. He had bought a home in Jomtien Nivate over 5 years ago.

Altruy confessed to police that he was indeed wanted in his home country but refused to divulge any further information, only that he had purchased the charter boat for 3 million baht.

Pol. Col. Supapol Arunsit remanded the Belgian national into custody before transferring him to Bangkok where he faces deportation, escorted by Interpol, to face justice for his crimes abroad.

--Pattaya Mail 2004-10-29

[Darknight]

it probably was a lot he took with him, can find any news about it from this side though.

[sriracha john]

Any talk of reciprocal extradiction with the Belgian who fled the Pattaya murder charges and is now back in Belgium?

Anyway, it's busy times for Thai police and foreigners:

Thailand detains Japanese man for attempting to smuggle wildlife

Friday, October 29, 2004 at 03:02 JST

BANGKOK — A Japanese man was arrested Wednesday night at Bangkok airport for trying to smuggle several kinds of wildlife, including turtles, salamanders, white frogs and protected plants, out of Thailand, officials said Thursday.

Yusuke Tomie, 39, a cloth merchant from Osaka, was arrested at Bangkok's Don Muang International Airport when he was about to leave for Japan. Police said his pants were filled with 45 turtles, nine salamanders, four white frogs and 14 protected plant species. (Kyodo News)

ok, ok.... I changed suitcases to read pants...

[Darknight]

Sam van treeck who fled to belgium will never be extradited to thailand as Belgium doesn't hand over Citizens to ANY country.

He hasn't even been charged here since nobody in thailand has contacted the justice department here.

So my guess is that it was the Save face solution i proposed in the previous posts.

Regarding this guy still no news here in belgium , guess it's not that big of a deal.

[sriracha john]

Sam van treeck who fled to belgium will never be extradited to thailand as Belgium doesn't hand over Citizens to ANY country.

Regarding this guy still no news here in belgium , guess it's not that big of a deal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Interesting then that Thailand is cooperating in this one-sided extradiction, but as you say...it's not a murder case.

Curious what the Belgian reaction would be if the situations were reversed. (A Thai murdering a Belgian in Belgium and then fleeing to Thailand).

[Axel]

I think it is fair and democratic for any nation not to extradict her citizens to a foreign nation for whatever reason.

Of course, any crime committed abroad will be brought to justice at home and punished by local laws. Thailand should prepare the files to Belgium.

One important point, if a country does not recognize capital punishment such will not be handed down, even if he/she would have gotten the death penalty in the other country.

One exeption: Extradiction to the Hague-court is possible for the nations signed to this. But this again is not recognized e.g. by the USA for her own citizens who will not extradict US-citizens to the Hague.

[monty]

Can very well understand the urge to flee this country if you have to go to court for a capital offence! Thailand is not exactly known for fair trials, but has a bad reputation for always finding somebody guilty. More often then not it turns out to be a scapegoat.

In Sam Van Treecks case it seems he had lost any trust in a fair trial after tons of people swarmed over the crimescene, trampling pretty much any evidence to be found. (seen this on the local cablecompany, they were all over the place while the police was busy trying to collect evidence!)

After he was released on bail he still was pretty confident everything would be allright as the cops were able to collect skin and bodyhair from under the nails of the victim, which was sent for dna testing. He had to submit samples from himself for this comparative dna test.

However after a week he got notified that somehow the dna-test failed, and there was not enough sample material for a second test. Anybody knowing something about dna testing knows this can only be possible when the test is deliberately messed up!!!

Soon after he disapeared and showed up in Belgium...

[Darknight]

As Thailand still hasn't contacted the belgian justice department , i think they are more then likely to try to cover this mess up. It's been almost a month now since sam's return to belgium.

[Gerry]

As Thailand still hasn't contacted the belgian justice department , i think they are more then likely to try to cover this mess up. It's been almost a month now since sam's return to belgium.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hello, Jeab's family and friends have been sending out press releases almost everyday. They won't let the story die as long as people are interested in it.

On Monday there was an interesting article on the Nation's expat page:

Van Treeck speaks freely to media

Published on November 01, 2004

It seems escapee murder suspect Sam Van Treeck hasn’t shut up since he absconded while on bail in Thailand and made his way back to his home in Belgium.

While most alleged murderers on the run prefer to keep a low profile, Van Treeck, basking in the security of no extradition treaty between Thailand and Belgium, hasn’t stopped flapping his lips about his innocence since he arrived back in Belgium.

Van Treeck was charged with the brutal stabbing murder of Phuket dive instructor and former girlfriend Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram in Pattaya.

He won bail and subsequently escaped to Belgium.

Here is a summary of some of his recent media interviews with Van Treeck.

De Morgen

Van Treeck says that he had a good lawyer in Thailand who had the right contacts for getting him out on bail. A lawyer’s job in Thailand is to buy off the right people, he says. He had a clear path to freedom because he had money to pay people off. He used the money his family raised in Belgium to bribe himself out of Thailand.

Radio Visie

Van Treeck says that the police said to him: “Will you pay or not, or we will change the time stamp on the video [closed-circuit TV at his appartment block where Jeab was murdered]. He says he and Jeab were only good friends, and he was happily married, adding that Jeab might have commited suicide.

Stichting Prison Life

In a self-penned article Van Treeck writes that he was not unable to criticize the police investigation until he got out of Thailand; that he would not get a fair trial in Thailand; that he pointed out to the police the murder weapon but the police were not interested; that he had an alibi but the police were not interested; that Jeab’s autopsy was inconclusive.

He says to Jeab’s family: “Do not give up because the killer still is out there,”

Buidentland Netherlands

Van Treeck says he is not frightened of extradition because Belgium and Thailand have no extradition treaty. The newspaper says that the Netherlands (which borders Belgium) does have an extradition treaty with Thailand.

Het Nieuwsblad

The newspaper wonders whether the Thai government knows that Van Treeck has escaped. The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs complains that three days after he fled, it still has not heard from Thai judicial authorities. A Belgian Justice Ministry spokesperson says emphatically: “Belgium never extradites nationals. That has been stipulated by Belgian law.”

Meanwhile, 100 supporters showed up at a benefit concert to help the Van Treeck family pay off the 75,000 euros it cost him to escape Thailand.

English translations of these transcripts available at www.msnusers.com/FriendsofJeabSeekingJusticeforherMurder

For more information contact Family & Friends of Jeab:

Noah Meyer, USA. Tel: 1 347 683 1288, E-mail: [email protected]

Phil Macdonald

The Nation

[meemiathai]

He says he and Jeab were only good friends, and he was happily married, adding that Jeab might have commited suicide.

?????

Anyway, since there are quite a few members here who knew what had happened, I'll wait for them to finish the story and explain everything.

[Darknight]

As Thailand still hasn't contacted the belgian justice department , i think they are more then likely to try to cover this mess up. It's been almost a month now since sam's return to belgium.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hello, Jeab's family and friends have been sending out press releases almost everyday. They won't let the story die as long as people are interested in it.

On Monday there was an interesting article on the Nation's expat page:

Van Treeck speaks freely to media

Published on November 01, 2004

It seems escapee murder suspect Sam Van Treeck hasn’t shut up since he absconded while on bail in Thailand and made his way back to his home in Belgium.

While most alleged murderers on the run prefer to keep a low profile, Van Treeck, basking in the security of no extradition treaty between Thailand and Belgium, hasn’t stopped flapping his lips about his innocence since he arrived back in Belgium.

Van Treeck was charged with the brutal stabbing murder of Phuket dive instructor and former girlfriend Chompoonut “Jeab” Kobram in Pattaya.

He won bail and subsequently escaped to Belgium.

Here is a summary of some of his recent media interviews with Van Treeck.

De Morgen

Van Treeck says that he had a good lawyer in Thailand who had the right contacts for getting him out on bail. A lawyer’s job in Thailand is to buy off the right people, he says. He had a clear path to freedom because he had money to pay people off. He used the money his family raised in Belgium to bribe himself out of Thailand.

Radio Visie

Van Treeck says that the police said to him: “Will you pay or not, or we will change the time stamp on the video [closed-circuit TV at his appartment block where Jeab was murdered]. He says he and Jeab were only good friends, and he was happily married, adding that Jeab might have commited suicide.

Stichting Prison Life

In a self-penned article Van Treeck writes that he was not unable to criticize the police investigation until he got out of Thailand; that he would not get a fair trial in Thailand; that he pointed out to the police the murder weapon but the police were not interested; that he had an alibi but the police were not interested; that Jeab’s autopsy was inconclusive.

He says to Jeab’s family: “Do not give up because the killer still is out there,”

Buidentland Netherlands

Van Treeck says he is not frightened of extradition because Belgium and Thailand have no extradition treaty. The newspaper says that the Netherlands (which borders Belgium) does have an extradition treaty with Thailand.

Het Nieuwsblad

The newspaper wonders whether the Thai government knows that Van Treeck has escaped. The Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs complains that three days after he fled, it still has not heard from Thai judicial authorities. A Belgian Justice Ministry spokesperson says emphatically: “Belgium never extradites nationals. That has been stipulated by Belgian law.”

Meanwhile, 100 supporters showed up at a benefit concert to help the Van Treeck family pay off the 75,000 euros it cost him to escape Thailand.

English translations of these transcripts available at www.msnusers.com/FriendsofJeabSeekingJusticeforherMurder

For more information contact Family & Friends of Jeab:

Noah Meyer, USA. Tel: 1 347 683 1288, E-mail: [email protected]

Phil Macdonald

The Nation

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Ass said this is old news here in belgium , these articles are from three days after his arrival. after that nothing has been heard from the thai authorities.