Thailand backpacker murders: Britain too quick to accept Thai court's verdict

[webfact]

Editorial
Thailand backpacker murders: Britain too quick to accept Thai court's verdict

If two Britons had been sentenced to death row, and this much doubt surrounded their case, the outcry would be huge

LONDON: -- On Christmas Eve, a Thai court sentenced two Burmese workers to death for the murder of the young British travellers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, on a beach in Koh Tao last year.

The facts of the case appal: Ms Witheridge was raped before she died, and Mr Miller bludgeoned and left to drown in the sea. The reaction of the families to the verdict, welcoming the conviction and seeking to draw a line under the tragedy, is understandable.

Yet serious questions remain, and they should not be brushed aside in deference to the terrible suffering the parents of Mr Miller and Ms Witheridge have undergone. The bar workers quickly withdrew their initial confession, claiming they had made it after they were tortured.

Full story: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/thailand-backpacker-murders-britain-too-quick-to-accept-thai-court-s-verdict-a6791226.html

-- INDEPENDENT 2015-12-31

[Bluespunk]

Tick tock,

Tick tock,

Tick tock,

Alarm bells starting to go off?

Edited December 30, 2015 by Bluespunk

[leeneeds]

A right to appeal , is part of the law,

[Lantern]

Interesting to read what was happening in the days before the two Burmese were arrested.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/one-tourist-murder-suspect-now-arrested-another-run

[choff56]

I'm starting to hear the chimes of freedom!

[thesetat2013]

A right to appeal , is part of the law,

Quite true! However in this instance it may be pointless as the huge loss of face increases exponentially with each ruling.

[JLCrab]

From above linked Independent editorial: "Yet serious questions remain, and they should not be brushed aside in deference to the terrible suffering the parents of Mr Miller and Ms Witheridge have undergone."

At some point the Thai Government might very well say back to the Independent that this is a matter of a crime committed in Thailand with due process under the Laws of Thailand ... and that there are far more fugitives from Justice in the UK that the UK would like assistance from Thailand in their extradition back to the UK than in the reverse.

Edited December 30, 2015 by JLCrab

[sharecropper]

"Quick - the Red Shirts are feeding the UK's Independent Newspaper with misinformation, garbage and lies. Round 'em up boys!"

[chainarong]

The proof is in the pudding , over decades the RTP have proven that they are far from a professional team as a law enforcement agency , it might very well be that this time England has been too quick to accept the court's verdict , another case in Chiang Mai this wasn't so, and along with the murdered girl's parents with BBC help they hired a ex Scotland yard detective to investigate , end result RTP dropped the charges against a Sydney lad and charged the Thai owner of the Hostel, in retaliation the BBC was then banned in Thailand for a period time. The point being raised here if it can happen it will happen in Thailand , there should be life handed down by the court , at least those innocent won't lose their life, right from the start this case was floored with unprofessional conduct , so why should opinion change against the RTP..................................................... .

[Artisi]

A small step in the right direction, let us hope that some of the other major news outlets pick it up and have a serious look at the shambles of the investigation, cover up and subsequent outcome...

[jaidam]

A right to appeal , is part of the law,

I believe in Thailand the appeal can not introduce any new evidence whatsoever. This could be a significant hindrance in this case.

[JOC]

>> If it were two Britons that had been sentenced to death row, and this much doubt surrounded their case, the outcry would be huge. We should not turn our backs merely because they are Burmese.<< Quote

Exactly!! And it is good to see how many Thai people (who normally not love the Burmese) have reacted to the verdict on social media!!!

Edited December 31, 2015 by JOC

[Reigntax]

A right to appeal , is part of the law,

I believe in Thailand the appeal can not introduce any new evidence whatsoever. This could be a significant hindrance in this case.

In any independant court, based on the facts, evidence and how the RTP "investigated" (fabricated) the evidence, they should not need to. This would never have made it to trial.

[tominbkk]

Interesting to read what was happening in the days before the two Burmese were arrested.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/one-tourist-murder-suspect-now-arrested-another-run

Everything the cops said would or would not happen in the case was exactly reversed in the end. Pretty sick.

[seahorse]

A small step in the right direction, let us hope that some of the other major news outlets pick it up and have a serious look at the shambles of the investigation, cover up and subsequent outcome...

Coming soon.

[JOC]

Now we are just waiting to hear from the political dinosaurs wearing a generals uniform aka the Thai government,

They will no doubt claim that Thaksin, from his new base in Myanmar, has infiltrated the British press to create instability in paradise..................

[clockman]

The proof is in the pudding , over decades the RTP have proven that they are far from a professional team as a law enforcement agency , it might very well be that this time England has been too quick to accept the court's verdict , another case in Chiang Mai this wasn't so, and along with the murdered girl's parents with BBC help they hired a ex Scotland yard detective to investigate , end result RTP dropped the charges against a Sydney lad and charged the Thai owner of the Hostel, in retaliation the BBC was then banned in Thailand for a period time. The point being raised here if it can happen it will happen in Thailand , there should be life handed down by the court , at least those innocent won't lose their life, right from the start this case was floored with unprofessional conduct , so why should opinion change against the RTP..................................................... .

And the killer is still at large? Because the suspect has passed the brown envelope!

[Artisi]

Now we are just waiting to hear from the political dinosaurs wearing a generals uniform aka the Thai government,

They will no doubt claim that Thaksin, from his new base in Myanmar, has infiltrated the British press to create instability in paradise..................

Well if he did / has, it would be the only decent thing he has ever done - however there is no chance he would even consider it as he never cared about Thai people so why would he help a couple of poor Burmese?

[catman20]

Interesting to read what was happening in the days before the two Burmese were arrested.

http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/one-tourist-murder-suspect-now-arrested-another-run

maybe the police and courts and the media around the world should be reading this again, a terrible miss carriage of justice, how do people sleep at night ?

[JOC]

Now we are just waiting to hear from the political dinosaurs wearing a generals uniform aka the Thai government,

They will no doubt claim that Thaksin, from his new base in Myanmar, has infiltrated the British press to create instability in paradise..................

Well if he did / has, it would be the only decent thing he has ever done - however there is no chance he would even consider it as he never cared about Thai people so why would he help a couple of poor Burmese?

May I suggest a Google search:

Irony

Sarcasm

[lineofentry]

Britain, of course, never has any politically driven verdicts, Dr David Kelly anyone?

[MaeJoMTB]

White countries don't care what happens to coloured people.

It's just the way things work.

White police can shoot them, corrupt governments can sentence them to death.

Floods can drown them, poor harvests can starve them, civil wars can kill them.

[bluebluewater]

" The reaction of the families to the verdict, welcoming the conviction and seeking to draw a line under the tragedy, is understandable. "

To me, this is one of the most puzzling aspects of the case as the trial played out. I just don't see HOW these families (bless'em) have seemed to be SO acceptable given all the sad facts, manipulation of evidence, lies, etc. that went along with this thing. I would think they would STILL be screaming bloody murder.

But they are not . . . ???

If they were this thing would take on whole new life and might be big headlines for a long time.

Edited December 31, 2015 by bluebluewater

[BlindMagician]

Read the letter by Anonymous to the Millers and Whetheridges.

[todlad]

Britain, of course, never has any politically driven verdicts, Dr David Kelly anyone?

Ah! The Dr David Kelly murder conspiracy. It's tripe, of course.

Kelly did something very bad. He was caught. He got involved with a now disgraced journalist. Kelly regretted what he did and tragically killed himself.

[balford]

You can bet that no matter what the PM and Prawit say in defending the verdict and the Thai justice 'system', there will be lots of questions being asked of the police and their 'perfect investigation' behind closed doors. And you can bet there is a review already underway the result of which we won't see.

This has the potential to become a full-blown scandal over the actions of a corrupt, inept and incompetent police force - if it hasn't already. And the government will be dragged down with it in siding with this incompetence.

Bob A. Relaxed in Lampang.

[sanukjim]

A right to appeal , is part of the law,

Quite true! However in this instance it may be pointless as the huge loss of face increases exponentially with each ruling.

Ah Yes ,It's the FACE thing..It is no secret about the incompetence of "The Key Stone Cops".(see YouTube),After the BIB got rid of Kung Porntip for being honest in her pathologist reports ( she did not want to play their game) their chief of autopsies is as blundering and dishonest as they are..For a country as important as England to imply as such,humm

[impulse]

Read the letter by Anonymous to the Millers and Whetheridges.

I read the teaser on ITV.com, but it linked to Facebook for the fuil text.

Having diligently avoided ever having a Facebook account, is there anywhere to view the full text without logging in to Facebook?

I'm very curious to read what evidence Anonymous offers. But not curious enough to give Facebook my life's most intimate details.

[JeremyBowskill]

These fellas will be topped and the world will keep spinning, nowt will change. The rest is just background noise that everyone will forget about in time.

[robblok]

What is afpaling is that there was a British investigation that was kept secret. Seems the UK (government) cares more about trade and relations as bringing out what they have discovered. They should tell them that they either were not allowed to investigate or could not find a thing.. but at least report about it. But it seems they won't just to keep the peace. I would have expected differently from a first world country like the UK.