Rohingya trafficking case to be completed in two weeks

[Lite Beer]

HUMAN TRAFFICKING
Rohingya trafficking case to be completed in two weeks
THE SUNDAY NATION

BANGKOK: -- POLICE will wrap up their investigation into the trafficking of Rohingya and other migrants within two weeks and seek an indictment by public prosecutors of the suspects, according to a senior police officer.

Deputy national police chief General Aek Angsananont said yesterday that investigators would seek court permission to interrogate some witnesses in advance in order to expedite the process.

He said police expected to wrap up the investigation before June 19 and before the date police were required to release detained suspects.

He said the objective was to allow enough time for the attorney-general to make a decision on indictments.

Aek called a meeting with the investigators after a key suspect, Lt-General Manas Kongpan, appealed to the Court of Appeals Region 9 against a lower court's decision to not grant him a temporary release.

Aek said Manas was still being detained at Songkhla's Na Thawee Prison like other suspects after the Na Thawee Court rejected his request for temporary release.

Manas's lawyer petitioned the court, requesting an injunction against the arrest and detention of Manas. The lawyer claimed that his arrest and detention were unlawful. The court ruled that police exercised power within their authority in issuing an arrest warrant for Manas.

The lawyer then appealed against the decision with the Court of Appeals Region 9.

Aek said that the appeal process would take about seven days.

He said Manas had the right to appeal but police would object to the temporary release of Manas and other suspects for fear of negative repercussions on evidence and witnesses.

Police would adopt the same standards for every suspect in this case.

He said Manas was being detained in the same detention zone as other suspects in this case. He did not receive any special privileges and had to carry out daily routine like other suspects.

As police probed further into the case, any new evidence implicating anyone else would result in an arrest warrant being issued, regardless of a suspect's profile.

Aek said that so far 84 arrest warrants had been issued, with 53 suspects rounded up and 31 still at large.

National police chief General Somyos Poompanmuang said he had not been informed about the list of police officers who had allegedly received kickbacks from Rohingya traffickers.

The list was reportedly shown in seminars on anti-human trafficking.

Somyos said he had heard that the list only revealed the officers' names and where they worked - not their ranks and positions.

He said the list was not credible because there was no evidence to substantiate it, unlike the case against Manas in which there was evidence of money being transferred into bank accounts.

He called on people who had the list to give it to him so he could investigate. "We need to find out if it is true so it is not just an allegation without a basis in fact,'' he said.

The list was revealed by Surapong Kongchantuk of the Lawyers Council of Thailand during a seminar on anti-human trafficking organised by the Thai Journalists Association on Friday.

The list accuses police officers from the Crime Suppression Division, the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Division, the Immigration Bureau and the Special Branch Police, as well as officials from state agencies such as the Office of Social Security of seeking kickbacks from human traffickers. The amount of kickbacks was also revealed.

Provincial Police Region 9 deputy commander Maj-General Puthichat Aekchat said Malaysian authorities were recovering the remains of trafficked migrants in Perlis state across the border from Songkhla's Sadao district.

Puthichat said Malaysian authorities would conduct autopsies to collect evidence.

He said Malaysia had asked for permission to enter Thai air space in Padang Besar for using helicopters to remove the remains from the mountainous area and that had been granted.

Thailand had nothing to do with the corpses, he said.

Puthichat said Malaysia had not informed Thai police how many bodies were found or revealed when the remains would be removed from the site.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Rohingya-trafficking-case-to-be-completed-in-two-w-30261790.html

-- The Nation 2015-06-07

[Toknarok]

TWO WEEKS to complete investigations into a crime of this magnitude, they must be joking. This has been going on for years, involves hundreds if not thousands of suspects and involves millions and millions of baht. They don't have to get suspects 'arraigned' by the 17th, simply use Artice 44 you can detain them for as long as you like.

I smell a 'sweeping under the carpet' move coming up with a few suspects with their hands blatendly in the honey jar being thrown to the wolves.

[clockman]

Some cases take 20 years! but others they only take a month.This does not look good. Hope the world sees it for what it is. Very suspect.

[FireMedic]

Right....because all crimes against humanity should take 2 weeks to investigate and close. It would take months to track all the money and who did what. What a joke.

[NongKhaiKid]

Thainess. Let's get a few people sorted out quickly then tell the world that we've responded, have done a good job and deserve the appropriate credit and rating upgrade.

Phase 2 is the usual complaints that people don't understand when they discover they fooled no one.

[oneday]

"...POLICE will wrap up their investigation into the trafficking of Rohingya and other migrants within two weeks..."

It's always been a curious idiosyncrasy of the Thai police in announcing predictions of case closings. I wonder how accurate their predictions are. I don't remember ever reading an article describing the outcome of one of their predictions.

[Strangebrew]

In 2 weeks "future headline we well rap this up in 30 days 90% complete" we just caught 4 Burmese who are masterminds of this operation we also found out No Thai could do this and military not involved. Then News Flash the 4 Burmese suspects were shot while escaping from police Case closed.

[Colabamumbai]

This has been going on for what 20, 30 years now, but two weeks, we know who dunnit, case closed.

[Rorri]

TWO WEEKS to complete investigations into a crime of this magnitude, they must be joking. This has been going on for years, involves hundreds if not thousands of suspects and involves millions and millions of baht. They don't have to get suspects 'arraigned' by the 17th, simply use Artice 44 you can detain them for as long as you like.

I smell a 'sweeping under the carpet' move coming up with a few suspects with their hands blatendly in the honey jar being thrown to the wolves.

Any further "investigation" could lead further up the feeding chain, and in a society where the corrupt run/control or have significant influence then no "investigation will be allowed to proceed for to long, or to far. We see this type of Thai "investigation" ALL the time, strangely they expect all of us, and the worlds governments, to believe them.

[Just1Voice]

Don't you people realize that the Thai Police, and their investigators, are simply the smartest and best in the world? Don't believe me? Just ask them. They'll tell you. Hell, I bet if you let them watch the video of JFK's assassination, then could absolutely tell you who did it in 48 hours. Amelia Earhart? They could find her plane and missing body in a week if someone asked them to.

Some of you simply do not understand the magnificence of their superior "Thainess".

[brucec64]

Don't you people realize that the Thai Police, and their investigators, are simply the smartest and best in the world? Don't believe me? Just ask them. They'll tell you. Hell, I bet if you let them watch the video of JFK's assassination, then could absolutely tell you who did it in 48 hours. Amelia Earhart? They could find her plane and missing body in a week if someone asked them to.

Some of you simply do not understand the magnificence of their superior "Thainess".

That is an easy one:

1. The second shooter was a Burmese migrant worker.

2. Amelia 's plane and body are obviously in burma.

[Emster23]

How can they say finished in two weeks? When not bothered by procedures like investigation, evidence, etc simply turns into creative writing assignment.

[Oziex1]

I believe it was written or reported by the org that grades the TIP status. One of the many negative points against Thailand was the failure to to carry out credible investigations into Human trafficking.

So no change there.

Tier 4 please!

[webfact]

Prosecutors, police rush to complete report on trafficking

THE NATION

BANGKOK: -- THE POLICE investigation report on Rohingya trafficking would be completed by June 19, Pol General Aek Angsananont, deputy Royal Thai Police chief, vowed yesterday.

After visiting the police forward command in Songkhla's Hat Yai district that oversees the police crackdown and overall investigation, Aek said he had personally supervised witness interviews.

The situation at the office has reportedly been tense, with police and public prosecutors under pressure to achieve the deadline.

Aek will meet today with Somnuek Siangkong, a deputy Attorney General assigned to oversee prosecutors' joint work with police, together with senior investigators from Provincial Police Regions 8 and 9 based in the southernmost provinces where trafficking has been reported and detected.

Hunt for 11 migrants who escaped

Eleven migrants of unknown ages and genders broke out of a government detention centre in Songkhla's Rattaphum district housing 112 Rohingya. A pursuit was launched but no one had been found, and they were suspected to be hiding in the jungle. The 11, reportedly victims of trafficking, were believed by staff to have fled on their own initiative, not being coaxed to flee by agents or relatives.

Under supervision by police and prosecutors, a victim is retracing the route through which he was smuggled into Thailand from Satun to Khao Kaew in Sadao district, where secret camps were found.

His account will be used as state evidence in court trials, due soon against the traffickers and those profiting from the trade in humans.

Source: http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Prosecutors-police-rush-to-complete-report-on-traf-30261833.html

-- The Nation 2015-06-08

[Anthony5]

Eleven migrants of unknown ages and genders broke out of a government detention centre in Songkhla's Rattaphum district housing 112 Rohingya.

So they didn't know the genders of the people they had in custody? Are they sure they were there in the first place.

THE POLICE investigation report on Rohingya trafficking would be completed by June 19

The investigation was actually completed the day after it started, it's the translation to English that takes so long.

The report of the investigations reads, " Nothing to see here, move on, move on."

[Toknarok]

Today's ABC news publishes a Four Corners report about a mass grave on the Thai / Malaysia border. This grave is only meters from a Thai Police station. It's beyond belief that the Thai authorities knew nothing of this. How can the Police state they will have this investigation wrapped up by the end of this month?

It seems quite obvious that with the arrest of ONE senior Army officer and a few of his henchmen, they will be thrown to the wolves and the matter then swept under the carpet. If an Australian journalist team can discover this grave how can't te RTP?

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-06-22/rohingyas-secret-graves-of-asias-forgotten-refugees/656189

[DLock]

2 weeks is up.

[Oziex1]

2 weeks is up.

Dlock

Play the game will ya.

You and everyone else is supposed to have forgotten all about this by now.

[DLock]

2 weeks is up.

Dlock

Play the game will ya.

You and everyone else is supposed to have forgotten all about this by now.

Are you saying that the Tour de France will not be coming through Chiang Mai then?

Bugger.

[CantSpell]

Let me correct that heading for you:

"Rohingya trafficking case to be completed in two weeks, Koh Tao style"

There, told ya, must be the Burmese, let's close this investigation and let's go hunt some migrants....

Edited June 22, 2015 by CantSpell