Koh Tao Murders: Defense Asks Court to Drop Charges

[jimstar1]

Well the real Killers are well gone so doubt if there will be a new Investigation Maybe they should offer cash Reward for the Police

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

There are probably many innocent people murdered and imprison for crimes they didn't commit. This has happened before and the real murders used the same formula. But this time there not a ONE DAY TRIAL! This time they have sealed their own fate.

[catsanddogs]

Time to take a look at the initial suspects again. Start with the alleged altercation/argument that took place at the AC Bar Koh Tao and let's have a re-enactment of what actually went down that morning of the 15th September 2014. And release ALL the CCTV whether it incriminates the Burmese suspects or not.

[oneday]

The court itself should have moved for acquittal long ago.

[StefanBBK]

Can't see acquittal happening.

[NongKhaiKid]

To throw this out now would require 2 ' majors '.

A major decision on the part of the sole judge and

A major loss of face for many all the way up to the PM.

There may be the slim chance of an acquittal but only after the trial is played out completely, any earlier would make the loss of face massive after all that's been said about the ' watertight ' case.

There may only be one judge sitting but any decision will not be his alone. If he acquits his judgement will be carefully worded to avoid criticism of the investigation and prosecution and if he convicts, well I hesitate to imagine what his reasoning will be.

[OnTheRun]

1.Looking forward to an acquittal on the 24th

2. Also waiting for an announcement on the 25th that a new investigation will be launched to find the real killlers .

I hope your first point is the outcome, as for your second point, hell will freeze over first.

[mmh8]

I read an article earlier this year that stated that on taking over the country the junta removed 75 % of the people from the police corruption department. It is related, I wonder what they did with the other 25 %

[teacherpaul]

It seems that with so many interested parties, and with a mountain of actual evidence actually shredding the prosecution's case entirely, the court has no option but to acquit be it on a technicality or whatever.

If they (the prosecution) fight the acquittal then it will show a lot of the RTP's approaches in an even worse light (unqualified translators, sub standard DNA testing capabilities etc).

Either way the Burmese guys'chances of a bright future are gone. Very sad

You have contradicted yourself with your last sentence.

You say that the prosecution has no chance of a case. You then go on to say that the Burmese guys' chances of a bright future are gone.

I would say their future will be a lot brighter after this case. If they aren't awarded millions of Baht compensation, then selling their stories to various newspapers around the world, not to mention writing books about their ordeal, assures them of a very bright financial future.

[teacherpaul]

1.Looking forward to an acquittal on the 24th

2. Also waiting for an announcement on the 25th that a new investigation will be launched to find the real killlers .

I hope your first point is the outcome, as for your second point, hell will freeze over first.

True. I think the outcome reflects what you have said. The Burmese boys will be released, but the real killers will get away with it.

[NextStationBangkok]

This is one of the best of the Human Rights Abuse by authorities on innocent voiceless migrant workers.

I feel these young men should be compensated, and the case should be taken by Amnesty International and should be fought until justice is served for these people.

Also, if in the future if any of the migrant workers charged with false claims should have a review committee in Thailand to check the creditably of the charges filed.

There are many many innocent people's lives are in danger in this country. As long as you are slave alien labor you have not much rights, that's what Thailand says to the world.

[StealthEnergiser]

Follow

Andy Hall‏@Atomicalandy

Guardian/UK Press Association - British backpackers murder trial: suspects 'should be acquitted' http://gu.com/p/4djt9/stw

[sweatalot]

Verdict 24 Dec? How convenient; Christmas eve for most westerners and a day when the world may overlook the verdict?

May be - and hopefully - just the opposite.

People have their free time and might be more sensitive to news of evil, shamelessness and injustice

- so contrary to Xmas

Let the media report in giant letters

[sweatalot]

1.Looking forward to an acquittal on the 24th

2. Also waiting for an announcement on the 25th that a new investigation will be launched to find the real killlers .

I hope your first point is the outcome, as for your second point, hell will freeze over first.

True. I think the outcome reflects what you have said. The Burmese boys will be released, but the real killers will get away with it.

A friend of mine said "I hope Zorro is alive"

[KamalaRider]

Thailand has lost all crdibility in this situation. Now it comes down to how do they lie their way out to save face in thailand only. The rest of the worid has accepted that the men charged are innocent and justice isnot being served.

How can you, or anyone else know what the "rest of the world" think and accept?

Apart from Thailand. Myanmar and the UK, the media interest won't be that great.

What is apparent is the total lack of professional competence within the RTP, from CSI, to following up and questioning witnesses and suspects, through to presenting evidence. Completely shambolic and clueless.

What they seem to be good at is allowing "interested" parties to direct their actions towards a conclusion that satisfies those parties and might appear to solve the case. They can't get away with it now as easily as the used to. But, they won't give a fig about what anyone outside of Thailand thinks; or anyone inside who isn't Thai and influential.

Feel for the bereaved families. The way this has all been conducted must make a nightmare scenario even worse.

You most probably haven't followed what the press in Australia, NZ, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Germany and almost the rest of Europe have written or shown on TV have said about it?

I haven't read what the rest of the world have written about this case, but the absolute majority have more or less leaned towards what most of us here are saying, they are scapegoats.

What you need to know is that most press from the western world still awaits solid and not fabricated evidence against the two poor guys before stating a definit opinion, but none have been presented to the court, alas, they haven't done it, the "world" knows about it.

There's thousands of articles written about this heinous crime in a lot of countries.

[ldiablo]

If the glove doesn't fit, than you must acquit.

[StealthEnergiser]

Follow

Andy Hall‏@Atomicalandy

Prosecution Koh Tao murder case confirms to BBC Thai didnt submit any closing statement to Koh Samui Court https://m.facebook.com/BBCThai/photos/a.1527194487501586.1073741828.1526071940947174/1707543369466696/?type=3&ref=bookmarks …

[lucky11]

Are the bookies taking bets on this and what are the odds. I would imagine about 100-1 they are found guilty.

So you think that they will be found innocent then. I wouldn't take you on as an odds setter if I had a betting shop!!

The fact that they tricked themselves into admitting the rape plus this phone issue simply confirms my long held belief that they did it.

[KamalaRider]

It will likely be a guilty verdict based on the confessions and the initial circumstantial evidence.

In Thai justice one must prove innocence and the accused failed to do so.

Appeal of the verdict relieves the lower court from any accountability so it has no motivation to rule not guilty.

Are you really sure?

In this trial, I also think they will be sentenced but that's because the judge in question probably lives on Koh Samui, hopefully Surathani, and would also probably risk his life not sentencing the two poor Burmesian guys.

The confession was apparently made under duress, read torture, and the judge has to take that under consideration, even if I believe he will shut his eyes on this one, but I could be mistaken.

Hopefully the judge has integrity and power enough to withstand the pressure or threats from the mafia on Koh Samui/Koh Tao.

To say you have to prove your innocence instead of prosecutors have to prove their case is up side down.

I know Thailand isn't based on logic, but I do believe that most of the laws are.

For me it looks like they've copied UK/SG laws and also implemented US in some cases.

Innocent until proven guilty, right?

[Whyamiandwhatamidoinghere]

If the glove doesn't fit, than you must acquit.

Can't try on to see the fit what they never had...

[yellowboat]

Are the bookies taking bets on this and what are the odds. I would imagine about 100-1 they are found guilty.

So you think that they will be found innocent then. I wouldn't take you on as an odds placer if I had a betting shop!!

The fact that they tricked themselves into admitting the rape plus this phone issue simply confirms my long held belief that they did it.

Is there any physical evidence that they committed the crime ?

[Mr Creosote]

1.Looking forward to an acquittal on the 24th

2. Also waiting for an announcement on the 25th that a new investigation will be launched to find the real killlers .

I do like the glass half full thinking and hope you are correct. On point 2 though, its quite unlikely. IMO, this will just go unsolved and buried away.

[kiwikeith]

Thailand has lost all crdibility in this situation. Now it comes down to how do they lie their way out to save face in thailand only. The rest of the worid has accepted that the men charged are innocent and justice isnot being served.

Correct, most Thai people that know of this case say the B2 are innocent, unfortunately a huge amount of Thai nationals don't even know about it.

The world knows and there will be an uproar if the B2 are found guilty.

How the RTP will get around this is yet to come out, they may have to find a couple of the gang that did this, and were probably the same gang that mugged/ robbed the girls on the beach -- same spot the night before, while admonishing the headmans son.

Then again do they have any DNA left to go on ??? CCTV footage may come out of the woodwork and a policeman transfered for not handing it over??

[boomerangutang]

Prosecution didn't even submit a closing statement to the judge(s). What does that indicate?

possibilities:

>>> they already know it's going to be guilty, because the PM and all police brass want a guilty verdict?

>>> they already know it's going to an acquittal, so why expend added calories to write a report?

>>> They think their case is so airtight that a closing statement is redundant?

>>> They know there will be appeals either way, so why waste time on the Xmas eve verdict?

Either way, it stretches out the time from the crime, which is advantageous for the real criminals (if they're ever brought to trial), as it renders the crime scene ever colder, week by week. That was one of the intentions of having a trial with increasingly stretched-out schedules. Plus Mon contaminated the crime scene early on, so any DNA pointing at Mon won't ever be credible. And the scapegoats claim they don't know anything about the crime or who did it, so their testimony won't be useful in a future trial. All the puzzle pieces are falling in to place for those shielding the real culprits. It's clumsy, but it's working for them. For Thai officialdom, losing face is secondary. What's most important is keeping the real culprits from being mentioned or implicated.

[Mr Creosote]

It will likely be a guilty verdict based on the confessions and the initial circumstantial evidence.

In Thai justice one must prove innocence and the accused failed to do so.

Appeal of the verdict relieves the lower court from any accountability so it has no motivation to rule not guilty.

Are you really sure?

In this trial, I also think they will be sentenced but that's because the judge in question probably lives on Koh Samui, hopefully Surathani, and would also probably risk his life not sentencing the two poor Burmesian guys.

The confession was apparently made under duress, read torture, and the judge has to take that under consideration, even if I believe he will shut his eyes on this one, but I could be mistaken.

Hopefully the judge has integrity and power enough to withstand the pressure or threats from the mafia on Koh Samui/Koh Tao.

To say you have to prove your innocence instead of prosecutors have to prove their case is up side down.

I know Thailand isn't based on logic, but I do believe that most of the laws are.

For me it looks like they've copied UK/SG laws and also implemented US in some cases.

Innocent until proven guilty, right?

I think that the mafia don't really care if these guys get acquitted as long as there is no follow up investigation, which there will not be.

[phuketandsee]

Fifth possibility Boomer - they are Thai and always late.

[AGareth2]

No B2 DNA on the hoe handle

but plenty of others

They were able to identify David and Hannah's

Time to identify the others

[Kru Baa]

Not only should they be set free, but they should be compensated for being illegally arrested and framed. Even if they do let them go they will not try to convict the real killers,even though everyone knows who they are. And lets not forget the crooked cops that are involved in the cover up. They will get off Scott free as well. Utterly shameful.

LOS Land of Shame.

[KamalaRider]

It will likely be a guilty verdict based on the confessions and the initial circumstantial evidence.

In Thai justice one must prove innocence and the accused failed to do so.

Appeal of the verdict relieves the lower court from any accountability so it has no motivation to rule not guilty.

Are you really sure?

In this trial, I also think they will be sentenced but that's because the judge in question probably lives on Koh Samui, hopefully Surathani, and would also probably risk his life not sentencing the two poor Burmesian guys.

The confession was apparently made under duress, read torture, and the judge has to take that under consideration, even if I believe he will shut his eyes on this one, but I could be mistaken.

Hopefully the judge has integrity and power enough to withstand the pressure or threats from the mafia on Koh Samui/Koh Tao.

To say you have to prove your innocence instead of prosecutors have to prove their case is up side down.

I know Thailand isn't based on logic, but I do believe that most of the laws are.

For me it looks like they've copied UK/SG laws and also implemented US in some cases.

Innocent until proven guilty, right?

I think that the mafia don't really care if these guys get acquitted as long as there is no follow up investigation, which there will not be.

Oh they really do care, they don't want this to be an open case.

Front of peoples of Judea

[boomerangutang]

Let's see if Koh Tao, Samui, phangan and Phuket are included in Prayut's Mafia Crackdown. Get rid of the opium shakes and other readily available drugs that are used to incapacitate victims. Return the islands to public domain.

How about, as punishment for the many unsolved farang deaths on the island: Ko Tao be cleared of all people, except a grass & bamboo hut for park workers - and be declared a nature refuge. In 30 years it will revert to a semblance of what it was before people came along and trashed it. It could have some walking paths.

Another potential park area is the Hat Raley peninsula. It's located on the Andaman side near Krabi. It's cut off from the mainland by steep hills. It has troops of monkeys, monitor lizards and large trees, but is rapidly losing out to being stripped clear and concrete-covered by humans.