Koh Tao murders: Flawed police work exposed by defence

Media spotlight & international attention has exposed flaws in police investigation & DNA evidence. CCTV footage next to be questioned by UK expert.

CRIME

Defence points to flaws in probe of Koh Tao murders

23/09/2015
Reuters News agency

KOH SAMUI -- Lawyers defending two Myanmar migrant workers on trial for the 2014 murders of two British backpackers on Koh Tao sought on Wednesday to expose holes in a police investigation they maintain was botched and intended to frame the suspects.

The conduct of the police and treatment of the country's huge Myanmar migrant labour force has been central to the trial of the young men accused of killing Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, a year ago last week. 

SCAPEGOATS FOR KILLINGS?

Postmortem examinations showed the victims suffered severe head wounds and Witheridge was raped, but lawyers and activists say the two Myanmar accused, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, have been made scapegoats for the killings.

The hearings are taking place on nearby Koh Samui, where the defence would present a statement from a British expert who has analysed surveillance camera footage being used as evidence.

The expert was contacted by Briton Andy Hall, a Thailand-based activist who specialises in protecting the rights of Myanmar migrant labourers and exposing abuses.

"We saw a lot of instances of police abuse and torture that were happening and a concern for us is that the police were just focusing on ways to nail the two defendants," Mr Hall said outside the court.

"We believe, from my investigation, that they blocked out so much of other evidence that could have been used ... simply to focus on the two accused," he said, referring to the police.

POLICE WOULD NOT DARE GO AFTER WRONG SUSPECT

Police have stood by their investigation and Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has said "nobody would dare" go after the wrong suspects because the case was so high-profile.

The defence has used Thailand's foremost forensics expert to scrutinise DNA samples that police said tied the two men to the murders. The court has heard that DNA found on the murder weapon did not match that of the defendants.

POLICE SAID THEY LOST DNA, BUT THEN CONTRADICTED THEMSELVES

The court ordered a re-examination of the samples after police said they had lost the DNA, then contradicted themselves.

They said in October the two Myanmar men, both 22, had confessed. But the suspects retracted those confessions, saying the confessions were given under duress (forced confessions).

Defence lawyer Nakhon Chompuchat on Wednesday said his duty was to convince the judge to question whether the evidence had sufficient credibility to convict the men.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/crime/704268/defence-points-to-flaws-in-probe-of-koh-tao-murders

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