Family of Brits murdered in Thailand say evidence convincing

[Lite Beer]

Family of Brits murdered in Thailand say evidence convincing

BANGKOK: -- The families of two Britons murdered in Thailand said evidence against Myanmar migrants accused of the crime is convincing, in statements supportive of a much-criticised police investigation on Friday.


Migrant workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun are accused of murdering 24-year-old David Miller and raping and murdering Hannah Witheridge, 23, on the Thai diving resort of Koh Tao in September.


The defendants, both aged 21, are due to enter a plea in the trial on Monday, according to prosecutors on the island of Koh Samui where the case will be heard.


In statements released through Britain's Foreign Office, the victims' families said they had seen strong evidence against the suspects and expressed confidence in the case.


"There is a great deal of detail and vast areas of investigative work which has been shared with us," Witheridge's family said in a statement.


"We would like to stress that as a family we are confident in the work that has been carried out into these atrocious crimes."


British detectives travelled to Thailand to review the police investigation into the murders after widespread criticism of blunders such as allowing reporters to trample over the crime scene.


Rights groups also raised concerns over the case after the two suspects retracted confessions they had made to the crime, and said they had been tortured.


On Friday the family of Miller criticised "increasing sensationalism of this story" and said that "speculation" should be suspended until all evidence is made public.


"The support for the Myanmar suspects has been strong and vocal, but please do not jump to conclusions until you have considered the evidence from both sides in full," Miller's family said.


"From what we have seen, the suspects have a difficult case to answer. The evidence against them appears to be powerful and convincing."


The suspects' families and legal team say they are innocent and have been made scapegoats of a crime by police keen to find a quick resolution.


The events have further damaged Thailand's image as a tourist haven after months of political protests led to an army coup in May and the imposition of martial law.

-- (c) Copyright AFP 2014-12-06

[Bluespunk]

Any links to this FO statement?

[draftvader]

https://www.gov.uk/government/announcements?keywords=tao&announcement_filter_option=all&topics[]=all&departments[]=foreign-commonwealth-office&world_locations[]=all&from_date=&to_date=

Filtered to the keyword "tao"......

[Robby nz]

Why do AFP have to get a slag in on every news item ?

The family may have seen evidence that others have not but it still does not explain the glairing inconsistencies.

The statement from the lawyers that they had not seen the prosecution evidence but would fight as best they could would seem to indicate a not guilty plea, we have to wait till Monday for that.

The big problem with a guilty plea is that the police then never need to make public the evidence they have.

[kimamey]

Any links to this FO statement?

I've tried looking for it but can't find it. I might well be just looking in the wrong place. The problem is that the Thai authorities seem to have a tendency to release statements on behalf of the British authorities so maybe they haven't told the Foreign Office yet.

I would assume that the victims families would be in contact with the UK police but there's no mention of them helping them to interpret the evidence which seems odd to me.

I suppose we'll just have to wait and see.

[kimamey]

https://www.gov.uk/government/announcements?keywords=tao&announcement_filter_option=all&topics[]=all&departments[]=foreign-commonwealth-office&world_locations[]=all&from_date=&to_date=

Filtered to the keyword "tao"......

I tried that and the most recent entry was on the 13th October 'FCO Minister summons Thai Charge d'Affaires to Foreign Office

It's worth pointing out that Thailand claims that is false so presumably we should be cautious about these current claimed statements.

[householder]

One of the statements reproduced in full here:

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2014-12-05/the-families-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-millerback-police-investigation/

[Thai at Heart]

How would a journalist have interviewed the parents of these questions.

Beyond that, to make a statement like this would be considered prejudicial to a case just about anywhere in the world, and as such until there is a second direct quote that they actually said this first hand, I don't believe they said this.

Until other wise, I am believing that the Thais have interpreted and regurgitated answers.

[Thailand]

Is this normal procedure to provide information to families of victims before a trial so that they could almost condemn the accused before proven guilty or otherwise?

[The stuttering parrot]

I just hope the families haven't been reading the absolute crap that went on for thousands of posts from the conspiracy theorists on here and if not grizzly photos then the description of the crime scene in graphic detail.

I said it before and I will say again shame on all of you that know as much about this case as me and that's f&$K all.

Bloody disgraceful!

[Bluespunk]

https://www.gov.uk/government/announcements?keywords=tao&announcement_filter_option=all&topics[]=all&departments[]=foreign-commonwealth-office&world_locations[]=all&from_date=&to_date=

Filtered to the keyword "tao"......

Nothing there about this statement the nation reports on in OP.

[craigt3365]

One of the statements reproduced in full here:

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2014-12-05/the-families-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-millerback-police-investigation/

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

[Bluespunk]

One of the statements reproduced in full here:

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2014-12-05/the-families-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-millerback-police-investigation/

Doesn't quite match the nation's report.

It's a lot more restrained in fact.

[householder]

One of the statements reproduced in full here:

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2014-12-05/the-families-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-millerback-police-investigation/

Doesn't quite match the nation's report.

It's a lot more restrained in fact.

Source in OP is AFP. The link I shared is only one of the statements; reference is made to two in the OP.

[BritTim]

One of the statements reproduced in full here:

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2014-12-05/the-families-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-millerback-police-investigation/

The actual statement falls short of saying the Burmese kids have a strong case to answer. It only says they have been made privy to a lot of detail and have confidence in the work of the police of both countries. They say evidence should wait until the trial. Basically, they are following Foreign Office advice, which is understandable. I still doubt the Burmese kids are guilty, but I have little confidence the British authorities will help them much.

[kimamey]

I just hope the families haven't been reading the absolute crap that went on for thousands of posts from the conspiracy theorists on here and if not grizzly photos then the description of the crime scene in graphic detail.

I said it before and I will say again shame on all of you that know as much about this case as me and that's f&$K all.

Bloody disgraceful!

We don't know it all but we do know some of it.

There will always be some conspiracy theories but it if you get the police saying 'a Thai would never do this' then it's unsurprising that doubts are cast about the investigation. Then there's the difference between the Thai and British versions of events such as the Thai Charge d'Affaires being summoned to the Foreign Office.

Hopefully the trial can get under way and the facts can come out although I'm not that hopeful.

[Thai at Heart]

One of the statements reproduced in full here:

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2014-12-05/the-families-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-millerback-police-investigation/

Doesn't quite match the nation's report.

It's a lot more restrained in fact.

Absolutely. The interpretation put on it by the OP is disgraceful. Nowhere do they intimate that they are privy to conclusive evidence of anything,and all they do is thank the police for their effort.

Absolutely disgusting interpretation of what they actually said.

[englishoak]

Interesting statement, very carefully worded in fact but I dont see it reads in the way the OP is trying to portray and selecting specific lines out of context

[BSJ]

Reporting the news accurately seems to be optional in this day and age.

[uty6543]

http://www.edp24.co.uk/news/new_statements_from_families_of_hannah_witheridge_from_hemsby_and_david_miller_evidence_against_burmese_suspects_powerful_and_convincing_1_3876229?usurv=skip

And here is a link that shows The quote “From what we have seen, the suspects have a difficult case to answer. The evidence against them appears to be powerful and convincing.” which is a quote from the Miller family.

[bkkgooner]

Silly comments to make before a trial but if the family and British police are happy with the investigation then it is probably time for the conspiracy theorists to let this one go.

Let's not forget that there are plenty of scummy Burmese as well as scummy Thais on these islands.

[robblok]

Interesting statement, very carefully worded in fact but I dont see it reads in the way the OP is trying to portray and selecting specific lines out of context

Seems i was at least partly right that the people on the forums did not have all the details and that the case might be solid. The fact that the family is not making a scene certainly points to that. Also the fact that they dont want it public as it might damage the case before the trial convinces me more.

The people here on the forum are in general not police officers and did not have all the evidence the police had. This is something I have been saying all the time. Now in my mind it sure too that the UK police wont come out with the details until the trial has been completed as not to taint the case. This again suggest they are convinced of the guilt else they would make a lot more noise before the trail.

Unless the UK report (i value that the most) contradicts it all it seems they did get the right people. Fact that the UK file probably won't be made public before the case as not to damage it also points into that direction.

[greenchair]

One of the statements reproduced in full here:

http://www.itv.com/news/anglia/update/2014-12-05/the-families-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-millerback-police-investigation/

Oh right, i see now not the same.

But , i do understand what it is saying. Be still for a minute.

Oh, just saw the second one.

[The stuttering parrot]

I think the CTs should do a full investigation into the article and investigate exactly what the family said.

The whole affair is just one giant conspiracy involving the RTP the government media and now the families.

Boy your gonna get some mileage out of this OP.

It's already started.

The people who know something are saying nothing and the who nothing are saying plenty!

Hopeless jokes.

[lildragon]

Well I have a big plate of humble pie to swallow. There's still a lot of glaring inconsistencies in this case but the families have seen evidence we are not privy to. I doubt the village headman's influence reaches THAT far.

Still hard to believe that these two acted alone. But if it's good enough for the parents then good enough for me.

[greenchair]

I still dont think david was killed by the hoe, as reported in the case. Thats why my question mark will not go away.

Curiouser and curiouser.

[JohnThailandJohn]

The family must be protecting the rich headsman son now too? This conspiracy has just grown -- thank god for the social media detectives to point our all the implausible reason why these two are not solid suspects and a rich the son of an island headsman, who was not on the island at the time, really did this.

[wellred]

The parents probably don't even have a clue. They will have been shown evidence from RTP. It's not like RTP will have shown hem their version followed by CSI LA/other and asked them 'so whadya think?'.

[JohnThailandJohn]

Sad that the conspiracy theorists have no concern for the victims and family in the case and will not stop even at the request of the family --- they have too much fun living in a fantasy world that regretfully has slowed down justice and caused pain for the loved ones of the victims.

[hughben]

Do we know what 'evidence' the UK police saw?

Was everything available?

Did they question anything?

Just because there is 'evidence', doesn't necessarily mean the 'guilty' did it.