Swedish Couple Sentenced To 15 Month In Jail.

[Priceless]

Yet another quote, this time from Sweden's largest circulation daily Aftonbladet:

"[...]De har erkänt och fick sitt brott halverat tack vare det, säger Amelie Heimsjö, UD:s presstjänst.[...]Vi kan bekräfta att det rör sig om två svenskar i 20 till 25-årsåldern. Domen blev två år och sex månader vardera. Eftersom de erkände brottet så halverades straffet, säger Amelie Heimsjö.[...]"

"They have confessed and had the crime (should be 'sentence') halved thanks to that, says Amelie Heimsjö, Foreign Ministry's Press Service.[...]We can confirm that it concerns two Swedes, 20-25 years old. The sentence was two and a half years each. Since they confessed the crime the sentence was reduced by half, says Amelie Heimsjö." (My translation again)

So now the information comes from the Prisoners -> Foreign Ministry -> Journalist. If you want it anymore "from the horse's mouth", I'll think you'll have to to visit them in their respective Phuket prisons. I guess you're not that familiar with how the Swedish Foreign Ministry works...

/ Priceless

Cute, but you failed to grasp the point I suspect.

The fact we are missing is not the length of the penalty, the fact that they confessed for promised leniency or that they got it. We already know this.

What we lack[ed] was details about 1) the exact charges as brought forth to them 2) the exact crime they confessed to [including the value amount of the merchandise].

If you are able to find them, them please give it.

And yes I know how SFM works, due to family and past work. But thanks anyway.

What I responded to was your post which said:

"Well, no, what you have is ONE journalist claiming that the UD (Foreign Affairs Dept) said those things, so it is again a third hand report (Thai police -> UD (FAD) -> Journalist). And to my knowledge the UDs position is generally to not give out detailed information of cases. Only support counseling and basic support for the family and the ones arrested/jailed. Lawyers usually handle the PR bit...

Another note is that BT is a very small local paper."

So I gave you three more sources, two of the largest national newspapers and the national broadcasting service, two of which are directly quoting the Foreign Ministry with one giving the name of the official (who is pretty much giving out all relevant information, except the names of the couple). As far as I am concerned, that is enough to show that your post was rather 'hollow'. If you want a transcript of the court proceedings, I suggest you direct that request to the court. I am not going to waste more time on this and I can't read Thai, anyway.

/ Priceless

[Master Chief]

Yet another quote, this time from Sweden's largest circulation daily Aftonbladet:

"[...]De har erkänt och fick sitt brott halverat tack vare det, säger Amelie Heimsjö, UD:s presstjänst.[...]Vi kan bekräfta att det rör sig om två svenskar i 20 till 25-årsåldern. Domen blev två år och sex månader vardera. Eftersom de erkände brottet så halverades straffet, säger Amelie Heimsjö.[...]"

"They have confessed and had the crime (should be 'sentence') halved thanks to that, says Amelie Heimsjö, Foreign Ministry's Press Service.[...]We can confirm that it concerns two Swedes, 20-25 years old. The sentence was two and a half years each. Since they confessed the crime the sentence was reduced by half, says Amelie Heimsjö." (My translation again)

So now the information comes from the Prisoners -> Foreign Ministry -> Journalist. If you want it anymore "from the horse's mouth", I'll think you'll have to to visit them in their respective Phuket prisons. I guess you're not that familiar with how the Swedish Foreign Ministry works...

/ Priceless

Cute, but you failed to grasp the point I suspect.

The fact we are missing is not the length of the penalty, the fact that they confessed for promised leniency or that they got it. We already know this.

What we lack[ed] was details about 1) the exact charges as brought forth to them 2) the exact crime they confessed to [including the value amount of the merchandise].

If you are able to find them, them please give it.

And yes I know how SFM works, due to family and past work. But thanks anyway.

What I responded to was your post which said:

"Well, no, what you have is ONE journalist claiming that the UD (Foreign Affairs Dept) said those things, so it is again a third hand report (Thai police -> UD (FAD) -> Journalist). And to my knowledge the UDs position is generally to not give out detailed information of cases. Only support counseling and basic support for the family and the ones arrested/jailed. Lawyers usually handle the PR bit...

Another note is that BT is a very small local paper."

So I gave you three more sources, two of the largest national newspapers and the national broadcasting service, two of which are directly quoting the Foreign Ministry with one giving the name of the official (who is pretty much giving out all relevant information, except the names of the couple). As far as I am concerned, that is enough to show that your post was rather 'hollow'. If you want a transcript of the court proceedings, I suggest you direct that request to the court. I am not going to waste more time on this and I can't read Thai, anyway.

/ Priceless

The news reporter in question, is Mr. Dikander. This guy has no education as reporter, he is a self claimed free-lancer.

He takes photos of victims and passes these on to the news media for money.

Currently working as a volonteer mobile rescue/medic in Phuket, he drives around in his pickup and collects news by such.

Getting all the facts straight is not his best qualification.

MC

Edited January 20, 2009 by Master Chief

[brahmburgers]

I still can't fathom whether they actually did steal a couple shirts (as first reported in Thaivisa) or a truckload of shirts (as the vendor originally said) or 250 shirts (that they seemingly confessed to)

.... or whether they were set-up as (as I suggested might have been possible).

Regardless, if I was early 20's, and heavily pressured by being given a choice of:

1. sticking with 'not guilty' plea and facing 2.5 years in Thai prison (as they were being promised).

OR

2. acquiescing to 'guilty' with no chance of appeal for a 1.25 year stint in prison,

I might also take #2 option.

If you've never felt cornered and scared and abandoned in such a manner, then you might not understand the trauma - that would compel a person to agree to something horrible - over the certain prospect of something despicable if you don't agree.

Remember, these are young folks, unversed in the slick ways of getting by in Thailand - with no connections, no lawyers, no names to drop, no big money, and (in their view) only those two depressing options mentioned above.

The Swedish consular services came along after the signed confessions / after the shoe dropped.

[Scott]

Whether or not they are guilty as charged, I don't know, but it does appear that they were up to no good at the time.

[brahmburgers]

Whether or not they are guilty as charged, I don't know, but it does appear that they were up to no good at the time.

Assuming they were 'up to no good' - does that justify 15 months in a filthy Thai prison?

[britmaveric]

Yes - the sentence is lenient considering it was 2.5yrs.

[Ulysses G.]

Whether or not they are guilty as charged, I don't know, but it does appear that they were up to no good at the time.

Assuming they were 'up to no good' - does that justify 15 months in a filthy Thai prison?

If they were stealing on a regular basis, they probably deserve at least their original sentence, so they are lucky. Yes, it is sad, but stealing from people who are poorer than you in a third world country is stupid as well as much worse.

[webfact]

UPDATE

Translation provided by member "PoorSucker"

source: http://www.aftonbladet.se/nyheter/article6548077.ab

2010-02-05

Sofie, 21, and her boyfriend, stole the T-shirts while on holiday in Thailand.

They were sentenced to 15 months in prison.

- I had to endure, just take day by day, "said Sofie, who is now back in Sweden again.

17 November 2008 Sofie and her then 24-year-old boyfriend, travelled to Phuket in Thailand on vacation.

They would stay for 14 days.

It became 14 months.

Sofie is now back in Sweden again. Last Sunday, she landed at Landvetter in Gothenburg, paroled and deported from Thailand.

- Everyone was there and met me: Mom and Dad, my siblings, nephews and friends - it was a very special feeling, "says Sofie.

She wants to tell his story to warn others to do something similar, in a country with much stricter rules than here.

Partying in Patong

After nearly two weeks of sunbathing and swimming and partying she and the then boyfriend of her partied in Patong, the last evening of the holiday.

Sofie has memory lapses from that night. But she remembers pile of plastic-coated T-shirts they found in the room the next morning - and how they wore down shirts and put them back outside the store, where they had taken them.

Then they were rounded up by police.

With the handcuffs they were taken to the police station, where they signed a confession - in Thai.

- I had no idea what it was and no lawyer or someone from the consulate was there and could help us, "says Sofie.

Slept on the stone floor

She and her boyfriend were taken to prison Phuket Prison, where they locked up in separate cells along with 150 others.

In the cell that had a stench of feces, they had to sleep on the stone floor with a crowd of others, with light tubes in the ceiling constantly lit.

Released on bail

Sofie was not put in iron hand and foot cuffs, as her boyfriend was forced to wear.

But she got sick of the dirty water and got rashes and infected wounds on the body.

After a month they were sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for theft.

- It was a shock. I did not think that what we had done was so serious and did not think it would be so dangerous. At the same time, it was a relief to get a ruling - and to know.

Sofie got help from a good friend who lives in Thailand, who paid her bail of 120 000 baht. After three months in prison she was released - but not allowed to leave the country. On Christmas Eve last year, it became time for the appeal trial.

- The prosecutor asked for seven years, so I prepared for the worst, "says Sofie.

But this time she was sentenced to probation, which only applies in Thailand.

In one month, her ex-boyfriend will come home after serving his entire sentences.