Burmese enter their third year in prison for the Koh Tao murders

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Burmese enter their third year in prison for the Koh Tao murders

 

 

SAMUI: -- Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin, the two Burmese men convicted for the murders of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in Koh Tao in 2014 are facing their third year behind bars at the notorious Bangkwang Central Prison, AKA The Bangkok Hilton.

 

The 22 year old men, who to this day profess their innocence, are housed in the Death Row wing of the prison.

 

The Burmese Migrant Workers say they hope that freedom is not a long way away. The men, who originally confessed to the crimes later said they were tortured into a confession. While on remand the men were housed in the Samui Provincial Prison, after their conviction they were moved to Nakhon Si THammarat before being taken to death row in Bangkok.

 

Both men had a lot of support during their incarceration in Samui and regularly received visits from a small group of ex-pats, a Burmese representative of the Migrant Workers Rights Network and for a few months their mothers.

 

Now in Bangkwang they still receive visits from two members of the Samui community, a concerned lady in Bangkok who has closely followed their case and a handful of Burmese supporters.

 

The men also receive dozens of letters from around the globe each month, they have both expressed their gratitude for the support and have said that knowing they are not forgotten has given them strength. The men also have support from a solicitor in Perth Australia.

 

 

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo maintain that they never met the victims of the Koh Tao murders and had no motive to kill or rape. They cling on to the hope that they will be released after the appeal, despite that appeal being made to Region 8 and the same judges who handed them down the death sentence.

 

If that appeal fails their last hope prior to execution will be the Supreme Court where they can appeal once more. However that process could take up to 7 years.

 

As the enter their third year behind bars both men are starting to show signs of despair, unable to stay in contact with their mothers, having little support from the Burmese Embassy and often being left in the dark as to what is going on with their case they often find hope in short supply.

 

However both men have expressed thanks to those who continue to support them financially and report that they have been treated well in the prison.

 

Although the case has lost a lot of momentum over the last two years supporters hope that by keeping the story alive in the press somebody somewhere may be able to help them.

 

One supporter said, “its vial that these men are not forgotten, I just hope somebody out there somewhere will find a key to the cell that stops them finding justice. “

 

Source: http://www.samuitimes.com/burmese-enter-their-third-year-in-prison-for-the-koh-tao-murders/

 

-- © Copyright Samui Times 2016-10-03

[T_Dog]

Post title is incomplete.   It should end with  "which they did not commit."

[DoctorG]

Having the appeal heard by the same trial judge is absurd. Has any judge ever overruled his own verdict?

[nausea]

I suppose Thailand just wants this to go away, the whole thing is tainted from beginning to end, whatever the truth. To execute these men would be a travesty. I don't see it happening myself.

[Colabamumbai]

Human rights where? Not in Thailand, the whole world is watching you.

[maoro2013]

1 hour ago, DoctorG said:

Having the appeal heard by the same trial judge is absurd. Has any judge ever overruled his own verdict?

Not only that, I believe the judges did not sit the whole trial but were rotated elsewhere and replaced by others.

[williamgeorgeallen]

1 hour ago, nausea said:

I suppose Thailand just wants this to go away, the whole thing is tainted from beginning to end, whatever the truth. To execute these men would be a travesty. I don't see it happening myself.

i agree but i dont see them getting out of jail any time soon either. good to see the story still in the media. being on death row for years maybe even decades must be hell.

[robertthebruce]

 

 

I do feel they are innocent, and if so, it's terrible they are in Prison for a crime they never committed....

 

i do hope one day soon they get justice and get released....

 

 

[Borzandy]

Parody of justice. The winners are the riches.

[Jimbo2014]

Frankly I'm suprised they are still alive.  Dead men tell no tales.  I hope they make it back to their homeland.

[Bung]

The same judges that handed down the death sentence will never overturn their own verdict.  That is a loss of face and admission they got it wrong the first time around. I think the Supreme Court will commute the sentence to life in another 4 years time. It is too damaging to their reputation to admit now they got it wrong.  Better to just keep denying they got it wrong.  This whole mess is already off people's radars and Burmese immigrants are little more than dogs to Thais. 

 

In all my years on this planet I have never witnessed such a travesty of justice. This place has a long way to go before it can get away from "justice for sale". 

 

[Dogmatix]

18 minutes ago, Jimbo2014 said:

Frankly I'm suprised they are still alive.  Dead men tell no tales.  I hope they make it back to their homeland.

 

The way things have gone there was no need to kill them. All they know is that they didn't do it themselves.

[Dogmatix]

I don't understand how the appeal can be heared in the same court by the same judges who are obviously not going to overturn their own decision, unless the real murderers come to the court and confess to their crimes. This is tantamount to denying them the right to the first stage of appeal and leaving them only the final stage in the Supteme Court.

 

This is a utter disgrace in a death penalty case.

[bristolgeoff]

all I can say is goodluck in the appeal,this is thailand

[z42]

Disgusting. And clowns everywhere still have the gall to defend it even now ?

[Dogmatix]

Their pro bono defence team which had no experience in murder trials and no understanding of DNA analysis fell apart at the trial. Pig headedly they refused to put the internationally renowned Oz expert witness on the stand and went up a blind ally with Khunyimg Pornythep's testimony on the hoe instead (not Pornthep's fault), when their was no reason apart from xenophobia not to let both of them testify. Since the trial there has been a scandal about an advisor to the defence making off with some of the funds raised and general bickering.

 

The appeal is obviously a write off and Unless some white knights come to the rescue, their appeal in the Supreme Court will also be a shambles by which time they will have been largely forgotten anyway. Justics for the poor in Thailand.

 

 

 

 

[Ace of Pop]

The Victims Family are the best to rule abut the decision imo


Sent from my iPhone using Thaivisa Connect

[MaxLee]

You can't beat a RIGGED system of not to be named corruption....

[Grubster]

4 hours ago, T_Dog said:

Post title is incomplete.   It should end with  "which they did not commit."

I cannot believe the west is not Pounding the fact that the first police chief was removed for having the audacity to start an investigation into the Hi-So family that most evidence pointed to.

[Grubster]

2 hours ago, nausea said:

I suppose Thailand just wants this to go away, the whole thing is tainted from beginning to end, whatever the truth. To execute these men would be a travesty. I don't see it happening myself.

I don't either, I think they will be pardoned in about five years or so, when the world forgets about it all. They will have to admit their guilt of course, to make sure no one else could ever be implicated.

[Aj Mick]

What would you do?

1. Appeal in the hope that the judgement will eventually be overturned, to be released after many wasted years (probably without compensation), and deported to destitution back home.
2. Plead guilty in the hope that the sentence would be reduced to life imprisonment (with remissions, about 20 years), to be released as convicted murderers (wrongly), and deported to destitution back home.

Either way the killers remain free to carry on their merry way. Sad, very sad.

 

[Crustyhk]

When is the Thai government going understand that this sort of blatant injustice scares the hell out of tourists. 

 

I spent some some time on Koh Tao and would have happily gone back with my family but after following this case I will never set foot on that island again. 

 

When the Thai legal system is more interest in saving face (even when the rest of the world can see they lost face within 24 hours of the murders) rather than picking up the real culprits then the island and the country are just too risky to visit. 

 

Any educated traveller will avoid the place but it will still attract the backpackers for the cheap booze and parties. You know, the ones with no money. 

[smedly]

2 hours ago, DoctorG said:

Having the appeal heard by the same trial judge is absurd. Has any judge ever overruled his own verdict?

I must admit I am absolutely blown away by this

 

just another reason (as discussed in another thread today) why Thailand is still in the dark ages and is very much still 3rd world

 

If mankind had developed and evolved like Thailand has we'd still be hairy and walking on all fours

[augustwest]

At least their still alive!

[MorristheRunt]

A Tragedy from start to finish.

 

This whole episode has brought shame on the nation of Thailand.

 

The only way to regain the worlds respect would be to free these two innocent men and arrest and give justice to the real culprits.

 

This will never happen, which is a utter disgrace.

[DiscoDan]

1 hour ago, Dogmatix said:

Their pro bono defence team which had no experience in murder trials and no understanding of DNA analysis fell apart at the trial. Pig headedly they refused to put the internationally renowned Oz expert witness on the stand and went up a blind ally with Khunyimg Pornythep's testimony on the hoe instead (not Pornthep's fault), when their was no reason apart from xenophobia not to let both of them testify. Since the trial there has been a scandal about an advisor to the defence making off with some of the funds raised and general bickering.

 

The appeal is obviously a write off and Unless some white knights come to the rescue, their appeal in the Supreme Court will also be a shambles by which time they will have been largely forgotten anyway. Justics for the poor in Thailand.

 

 

 

 

Maybe the reason they did not call 

Jane Taupin is because the defense knew police used new machine to cross reference and match dna so she would have had to show a judge how a machine managed to make the mistake and not a person (Robert Holmes has confirmed police testified they had new machine can do test in a few hours).

 

Also Jane Taupin asked for dna paperwork to be sent to her in Australia before she came to Thailand, she never received it then later on Andy Hall admitted the defense never made a request for the documentation.

 

And last but not least Jane was not the only dna expert the defense chose not to use they also had someone from the UK who's services they declined to use.

 

 

 

.

[smedly]

2 minutes ago, MorristheRunt said:

A Tragedy from start to finish.

 

This whole episode has brought shame on the nation of Thailand.

 

The only way to regain the worlds respect would be to free these two innocent men and arrest and give justice to the real culprits.

 

This will never happen, which is a utter disgrace.

Here is the Headline I would like to read in the coming months

 

PM orders fundamental review of Koh Tao Murders - irregularities to be investigated

 

Pornthip Rojanasunand and a team of independent experts will be tasked to investigate irregularities surrounding the case against ...................................... 

 

 

 

[zyphodb]

37 minutes ago, smedly said:

Here is the Headline I would like to read in the coming months

 

PM orders fundamental review of Koh Tao Murders - irregularities to be investigated

 

Pornthip Rojanasunand and a team of independent experts will be tasked to investigate irregularities surrounding the case against ...................................... 

 

 

 

 

Don`t hold your breath........

[lucky11]

7 hours ago, T_Dog said:

Post title is incomplete.   It should end with  "which they did not commit."

 

 The courts found them guilty!!

[Nip]

I fully support the comments by Dogmatic i.e. ...Their pro bono defence team which had no experience in murder trials and no understanding of DNA analysis fell apart at the trial. Pig headedly they refused to put the internationally renowned Oz expert witness on the stand and went up a blind ally with Khunyimg Pornythep's testimony on the hoe instead (not Pornthep's fault), when their was no reason apart from xenophobia not to let both of them testify. Since the trial there has been a scandal about an advisor to the defence making off with some of the funds raised and general bickering. The appeal is obviously a write off and Unless some white knights come to the rescue, their appeal in the Supreme Court will also be a shambles by which time they will have been largely forgotten anyway. Justics for the poor in Thailand.

 

The truth of what really happened on Koh Tao and in Samui Court remains a closely guarded secret .... Indeed secrets. What is not secret is that these two Burmese boys are in jail for a crime they did not commit and the 4 factions that should be seeking truth and justice seem to have other agenda's. That is the police, the media, the MET and the defense team.  Anybody privy to the crime scene photos and with a modicum of intelligence can see evidence that would cast great doubt on what was reported to have happened that night and why the police want to clear this up as quickly as possible. The limp wristed defense team and at least one of their advisors have recently been questioned on other forums and have refused to account in detail for the funds that were raised to defend the boys and their eh curious modus operandi. Facebook can be a great tool in search of justice but it can also tell a sorry tale of the comings and goings of the defense team advisors. Seek and you will find. There are enough sleuths here on Thai Visa not anchored to Thailand to dig out what is really going on. Start on Facebook. Others for eg long ago predicted the outcome of a recent court case and were proved correct. What do I know for sure? Nothing but nothing stacks up as it should and the Media including the BBC are aware of what is happening but remain mute. The old school tie system is strangling two young boys for a crime they did not commit. The great pillar of the news the BBC is crumbling ashamedly. Where is the old Media adage? Publish and be damned?