Myanmar extends help to murder suspects in Thailand

 

The Myanmar delegation was granted permission to meet two Myanmar migrant workers - Maung Saw and Maung Win, who confessed to Thai police that they killed Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.

“We met Maung Saw and Maung Win at Koh Samui prison. They told us they committed the crime while they were under the influence of alcohol,” said Aung Myo Than, a lawyer from the embassy. 

However, he said there were wide discrepancies between police statement and what they had said. 

“A cigarette was found at the crime scene. The police announced that their DNA test results were taken from that cigarette. But the suspects said they did not smoke at the scene,” Aung Myo Than said. “They only said they smoked at a place where they were playing the guitar, about 25 yards from the scene. We went to the police station to give their statements.”

Thai police in the southern province of Surat Thani today submitted the 850-page case to public prosecutors. Independent justice representatives are seen in the tourist destination, collecting circumstantial evidence following reports that the two suspects may be scapegoats.

Another Myanmar migrant, Maung Maung, was also detained as a plaintiff witness. 

Aung Myo Than said that the delegation was not allowed to meet Maung Muang. “They said Thai authorities would be under pressure if granting such permission,” he said. 

According to Kyaw Thaung, executive director from Myanmar Citizens Association who is one of the delegation, another discrepancy lies with the injuries found on the male victim. 

The suspects said that they hit the man with a spade three times, as the woman was being raped and began to shout, Kyaw Thaung said. Yet, police statement showed that the man was stabbed in his jaw and cheek bone by a pointed material.

 “They (the accused) said they did not think the man would die. There are differences between their statements and Thai police statements,” said Kyaw Thaung. 

The delegation plans to go to Koh Tao today for further investigation.

The lifeless bodies of the two British tourists were found on Koh Tao on September 15. Maung Saw and Maung Win, both 21 years old, were charged on October 3 for rape and murder. If convicted, they can receive a maximum of death sentence for murder and a maximum of 20-year imprisonment for rape. 

Koh Pha-Ngan Police Station's superintendent Colonel Prachum Ruangthong yesterday dismissed rumours that Thai police held them as scapegoats for the high-profiled case. His police station has jurisdiction over not just Koh Pha-Ngan but also Koh Tao, 

"There is solid evidence against them. They are not scapegoats," Prachum said.

Thailand's top police officers, led by national police chief Pol Gen Somyot Pumpunmuang, today hosted a press conference to show their evidence. Insisting that these workers are not scapegoats, they said this would be the last press conference to clarify any criticisms on the case.