Koh Tao Convicts 'Still Hopeful' as Appeal Looms

[webfact]

Koh Tao Convicts 'Still Hopeful' as Appeal Looms
By Teeranai Charuvastra
Staff Reporter


Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo are guided through a 're-enactment' of a Sept. 15, 2014, double murder on Koh Tao in a file photo from Oct 3, 2014.

BANGKOK — Lawyers representing the two Myanmar men sentenced to die for the brutal murders of two British backpackers said today they will soon file an appeal to overturn their convictions.

The appeal will seek to vacate December’s judgment against Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, who were found guilty of the September 2014 double murder of David Miller and Hannah Witheridge, a case that captured widespread attention in both domestic and foreign media.

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1463474334

-- Khaosod English 2016-05-17

[rkidlad]

Whether you think these boys are innocent are guilty is moot. I personally believe them to be innocent. You can argue that point all day.

I think what any level headed person with half-a-brain can see is that this court case was a mockery. People won't admit mistakes. Just shows you how flawed this case was.

Good luck, boys.

[z42]

Still makes me sick to my stomach. These poor innocent boys locked up in the BKK hilton while the real killers live the good life. I hope the full truth comes out sooner rather than later, but its already far too late for these lads, their lives are over.

[DM07]

The whole thing was/is a joke...and not an even slightly funny one!

[balo]

The appeal will not lead to anything unless some new evidence is presented.

[greenchair]

The appeal will not lead to anything unless some new evidence is presented.

That's right . I don't see them winning on appeal as there are too many holes in their testimony and defense. Though they might well get the death penalty commuted to life, which I think is 20 years in Thailand.

They'll be out in 10 or 15 years if their lawyers are not silly enough to appeal that.

They will start life anew unlike david and Hannah.

[iReason]

^^^

Nonsense.

They will appeal the process.

Actually, the lack of it by the inept clowns in brown.

Edited May 17, 2016 by iReason

[DiscoDan]

You either think the Burmese men are innocent and the defense did an awful job as they could of been found not guilty, if they had only called Jane Taupin or that they are guilty and the defense (&social media) did a good job making them look innocent.

I believe its the latter.

Some of the my reasons for thinking they are guilty is weak alibi the theft of Davids phone and the defense decision not to use so called "dna experts"

[iReason]

^^^

Short memory?

As has been the case many times in the past,

you have been informed of why the defense refused to allow new DNA tests due to the fact that they would not have sole custody and independent examination and verification.

The RTP/Prosecution would not permit that. It had to go through them.

Wisely, they declined.

BTW, it's Myanmar.

Edited May 17, 2016 by iReason

[cumgranosalum]

You either think the Burmese men are innocent and the defense did an awful job as they could of been found not guilty, if they had only called Jane Taupin or that they are guilty and the defense (&social media) did a good job making them look innocent.

I believe its the latter.

Some of the my reasons for thinking they are guilty is weak alibi the theft of Davids phone and the defense decision not to use so called "dna experts"

whether you think they are guilty or not is completely irrelevant, the fact is that the lack of procedure and mishandling of evidence etc etc makes ANY subsequent trial a mockery.

[Johnniey]

Back in my day it was the Blue Diamond affair, later it was Chalerm's son, a year ago the Koh Tao. Just part of the learning curve of living serenely in Thailand.

Serenity to accept the things I cannot change!

Move on, this is history.

[Briggsy]

The pantomime rumbles on. Everybody plays their part, scared to put a foot wrong, as if their lives depended on it, all to protect the real culprits, who have the fortune to belong to a powerful political-criminal network.

[stephenterry]

The appeal will not lead to anything unless some new evidence is presented.

That's right . I don't see them winning on appeal as there are too many holes in their testimony and defense. Though they might well get the death penalty commuted to life, which I think is 20 years in Thailand.

They'll be out in 10 or 15 years if their lawyers are not silly enough to appeal that.

They will start life anew unlike david and Hannah.

How about the too many holes in the prosecution assertions that the court ignored.

[Merylhighground]

Well, if they can't bring a 'premeditated murder' charge against those low lives who murdered a disabled man in Din Daeng because their fathers are policemen due to a 'lack of evidence', there is hope for these two poor lads.

[StealthEnergiser]

The appeal will not lead to anything unless some new evidence is presented.

That's right . I don't see them winning on appeal as there are too many holes in their testimony and defense. Though they might well get the death penalty commuted to life, which I think is 20 years in Thailand.

They'll be out in 10 or 15 years if their lawyers are not silly enough to appeal that.

They will start life anew unlike david and Hannah.

Over 200 pages being submitted by the defence would tell me that the prosecution are the ones with to many holes in the case.

[sweatalot]

The appeal will not lead to anything unless some new evidence is presented.

That's right . I don't see them winning on appeal as there are too many holes in their testimony and defense. Though they might well get the death penalty commuted to life, which I think is 20 years in Thailand.

They'll be out in 10 or 15 years if their lawyers are not silly enough to appeal that.

They will start life anew unlike david and Hannah.

too many holes?

You mean too many holes in the prosecution side. A black hole, to be exactly

[sweatalot]

You either think the Burmese men are innocent and the defense did an awful job as they could of been found not guilty, if they had only called Jane Taupin or that they are guilty and the defense (&social media) did a good job making them look innocent.

I believe its the latter.

Some of the my reasons for thinking they are guilty is weak alibi the theft of Davids phone and the defense decision not to use so called "dna experts"

The main reason why I think they are innocent is because there is not any proof of their guilt. Nothing.

[canuckamuck]

The only way they could get a fair trial would be to move the whole thing to a new country. The prosecution case was shockingly poor, the police work was totally botched. The only evidence against them could not be verified. Any court in the free world would have thrown out the case before the defense ever spoke a word. But they got the conviction anyhow. And nothing will change unless someone privileged gets thrown under a bus.

[IslandLover]

From the OP

The case will be retried in the appeals court on Phuket.

Phuket? Is this correct?

[NongKhaiKid]

Given the way this was mishandled from the very beginning and attracted international comment plus all the ridiculous comments etc all the way to the very top can anyone honestly see an appeals court having the balls to overturn the verdict and discredit the nation and some VERY important people ?

Elsewhere it would probably be regarded as a plaudit for the legal system to return a positive appeal but that's not how things work here, is it ?

Edited May 18, 2016 by NongKhaiKid

[Rykbanlor]

Given the way this was mishandled from the very beginning and attracted international comment plus all the ridiculous comments etc all the way to the very top can anyone honestly see an appeals court having the balls to overturn the verdict and discredit the nation and some VERY important people ?

Elsewhere it would probably be regarded as a plaudit for the legal system to return a positive appeal but that's not how things work here, is it ?

Every new twist and turn back during the trial had us all oohing and aahing and hoping.....now I fear you're right, although there might be a chance they get their sentences reduced to a prison term rather than death.

[MockingJay]

The boys are toast. There's no hope for the B2. Thais never make mistakes, Thais are never wrong - you multiply this by a 100 for "Thais in charge". Anyone who questions this will face severe problems - you multiply this by a 100 for "Non Thais questioning the above". Full stop.

[gandalf12]

Given the way this was mishandled from the very beginning and attracted international comment plus all the ridiculous comments etc all the way to the very top can anyone honestly see an appeals court having the balls to overturn the verdict and discredit the nation and some VERY important people ?

Elsewhere it would probably be regarded as a plaudit for the legal system to return a positive appeal but that's not how things work here, is it ?

Elsewhere, based on the contaminated and dubious evidence, the case would never have got passed the first day let alone run on like it has

[FourAces]

Knowing all this, it amazes me that people still travel to LOS for holidays and still want to live there.

Edited May 18, 2016 by FourAces

[greenchair]

You either think the Burmese men are innocent and the defense did an awful job as they could of been found not guilty, if they had only called Jane Taupin or that they are guilty and the defense (&social media) did a good job making them look innocent.

I believe its the latter.

Some of the my reasons for thinking they are guilty is weak alibi the theft of Davids phone and the defense decision not to use so called "dna experts"

whether you think they are guilty or not is completely irrelevant, the fact is that the lack of procedure and mishandling of evidence etc etc makes ANY subsequent trial a mockery.

Yes, this is now the cornerstone of the defense arguments.

It does not matter if they are guilty, they must be set free in the name of justice as the investigation was not carried out according to the law.

The judges did not see it that way. They looked at everything the prosecution had to offer.

They gave the defense ample opportunity to defend that.

They looked at everything the defense had to offer "gait analyse ".

They listened to the b2 very unusual story.

Guilty or not. Legal technicalities or not. The verdict was arrived at fairly.

[greenchair]

You either think the Burmese men are innocent and the defense did an awful job as they could of been found not guilty, if they had only called Jane Taupin or that they are guilty and the defense (&social media) did a good job making them look innocent.

I believe its the latter.

Some of the my reasons for thinking they are guilty is weak alibi the theft of Davids phone and the defense decision not to use so called "dna experts"

That phone did it for me. All those months people on social media defended why the phone was behind the bungalow. The defense knew well, it was put there by the burmese and their mates.

The defense never said a word.

Fool me once.

[Partenavia]

As far as I can recall, this particular murder has highlighted Thailand's justice system in the UK, for the first time. As a result of that, all the negative factors regarding UK citizens have also started to become newsworthy. Talking to various people there is now a perception in the UK that Thailand is unsafe, but more importantly it is now being perceived as a destination for sex tourists.

Whether this perception is widespread I have no idea, but I would have thought that TAT would be having a problem attracting "quality" tourists if this were the case. When you start telling friends that you are going to Asia, rather than saying Thailand, sort of gives the game away.

[Caveat Emptor]

The boys are toast. There's no hope for the B2. Thais never make mistakes, Thais are never wrong - you multiply this by a 100 for "Thais in charge". Anyone who questions this will face severe problems - you multiply this by a 100 for "Non Thais questioning the above". Full stop.

It would take tremendous strength of character to admit the case was flawed ,reverse the verdict and live with the perceived loss of face.

Due to all the publicity and adverse comment I don't think Thais have that strength.

[DiscoDan]

You either think the Burmese men are innocent and the defense did an awful job as they could of been found not guilty, if they had only called Jane Taupin or that they are guilty and the defense (&social media) did a good job making them look innocent.

I believe its the latter.

Some of the my reasons for thinking they are guilty is weak alibi the theft of Davids phone and the defense decision not to use so called "dna experts"

That phone did it for me. All those months people on social media defended why the phone was behind the bungalow. The defense knew well, it was put there by the burmese and their mates.

The defense never said a word.

Fool me once.

WP told the court he gave the phone to his friend as a gift as they share tips (phone valued at 15,000thb) he told his friend he found it in the bar he worked in (LIED) then when his friend suspected it might have something to do with the murders WP admitted to finding it on the beach, they then proceeded to destroy the phone smashing it up and leaving it in a plastic bag full of water.

are these the action of an innocent person ?

In WP alibi he claimed he could not sleep as he had lost his sandals and they cost a lot of money (350 thb) so he went back with Maung Maung to look for them & MM shirt.

phone given away for free value 15000 thb

cant sleep because he lost his 350 thb sandals

Looks like maths is not his strong point.

[Khun Han]

Under any 'normal' governance, these two young men would have struggled for justice once they were selected as patsies, due to the money and influence of the Tuvichien family. With the yellow mafia currently running the country, they never stood a chance: the Tuvichiens now have much stronger influence due to their position as regional 'players' in the yellow mafia.

This case will eventually be a very minor footnote in the particularly shameful current few years of Thailand's political history.