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Koh Tao murders: Burmese men held pending indictment decision

Two Burmese men being held in the Koh Tao double-murder case will be spending at least 12 more days incarcerated in Thailand after the Koh Samui Provincial Court approved prosecutors’ second request to hold them.

Paiboon Achawananthakhun of the Office of Public Prosecution Region 8 told Thai Rath Online that prosecutors led by director-general Thawatchai Siangjaew still have not made a decision on whether to indict, but they needed to hold suspects Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun until they do.

The delay is due to additional police investigation ordered by prosecutors in the wake of international criticism of the Thai police’s handling of the killings of Britons Hannah Witheridge and David Miller.

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It was reported that prosecutors had asked investigators to seek written proof from British authorities to confirm that a mobile phone police said to belong to Miller was really his.

Mr Paiboon said prosecutors would conclude later whether to order a probe into the suspects’ accusation that they had been assaulted by a Burmese interpreter.

As for a petition filed by the suspects’ parents seeking justice for their sons, the Samui state prosecutor’s office said it would forward the plea to the Office of the Attorney General for consideration.

Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun have been detained for 24 days. The law allows them to be held for 84 days and if prosecutors fail to indict them within that time they must be released.

 

This article was originally published in the Bangkok Post on 27 October 2014.

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