FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Lawyers of Koh Tao murder accused given more time

Lawyers of Koh Tao murder accused given more time

MYANMAR EMBASSY CLAIMS WITNESS WAS FORCED TO IMPLICATE DUO AFTER KILLINGS OF BRITISH PAIR ON TOURIST ISLAND

THE LAWYERS for two migrant workers from Myanmar accused of killing two British tourists on Koh Tao were yesterday granted more time to prepare their defence. 
“There will be an extension,” chief defence lawyer Nakhon Chompuchat said outside the court.
He told reporters the court had made the concession after his team had appealed for more time to show the defendants were being made scapegoats.
His team has been putting up the defence in the case of a high-profile double murder on Koh Tao. The battered bodies of two Britons were found on the island off Surat Thani last year. Post-mortem examination showed the female victim was also raped.
The appalling crimes have made headlines not just in Thailand but also overseas. 
After weeks of investigation, police arrested Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun for the crimes. Despite their initial confession, the defendants have later insisted that they were coerced into admitting to the crimes.
A Myanmar Embassy official yesterday told the Koh Samui Provincial Court that a worker from Myanmar was forced into accusing the two defendants.
“Mao Mao told me that he was repeatedly kicked in his chest. He said [Thai] officials demanded that he speak the way they wanted or become a defendant himself,” Aung Suu from the Myanmar Embassy in Bangkok said. 
Police have used Mao Mao’s words against the two defendants. 
Inside the courtroom, Aung Suu also disclosed that he came to Koh Tao after the crime took place to talk to Myanmar people there. 
“They all appeared frightened of the police. I was told police physically assaulted the Myanmar people during the interrogation,” Aung Suu said.
He also said the Myanmar government and the Myanmar Embassy would not officially recognise the type of interpreter used by Thai police in this case. 
The interpreter has Bengali ethnic origin while the defendants are of Rakhine ethnicity. The Bengali and Rakhine groups have had a history of conflict. 
A Myanmar man, who teaches the Burmese language at Ramkhamhaeng University, also showed up as a witness yesterday. He too said the Bengalis and the Rakhine had had conflicts for more than 70 years already. 
Being a member of the Office of the Royal Society here, he also said there was a risk of discrepancies in the interpretation services because while the interpreter might use the official Burmese language, his choice of words could still be influenced by his Bengali background. 
The trial of the two Myanmar men has been mired in controversy, with their lawyers complaining of a patchy police investigation, marred by disputed forensics, a contaminated crime scene and selective use of surveillance video to implicate the accused.
Police have denied mistreating the Myanmar men and have stood by their investigation. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has said “nobody would dare” go after the wrong suspects because the case was so high-profile.
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