Poor disabled mushroom foragers not illegal loggers, they claim.
Impossible for poor disabled couple to chop down & haul away 700 trees, argues human rights activist.
Impossible for poor disabled couple to chop down & haul away 700 trees, argues human rights activist.
THE LAW & THE POOR
Poor mushroom foragers did not chop down & haul away 700 trees
17/03/2016
Wassayos Ngamkham
Udom Sirisorn, 53, and his wife Daeng, 50, are poor mushroom foragers from Kalasin province in the northeast.
The two were sentenced to 15 years in prison for illegal logging in a Thai forest reserve in Kalasin's Huai Mek district in 2010.
Forestry officials charged the couple with felling 700 trees over a 72-rai area of protected forest from July 12-19, 2010.
THOUGHT HE WAS CONFESSING TO ILLEGAL MUSHROOM FORAGING
Mr Udom, who is deaf and cannot read (illiterate) says he only confessed to the crime because he thought he was admitting to illegally foraging for mushrooms on a forest reserve, not to illegal logging.
Authorities had found the couple's motorcycle in the tambon Non Sa-ard forest on July 12, 2010, and charged them with chopping down and hauling away 700 trees.
ACTIVIST NOTICED INJUSTICE, HELPING THEM
Luckily, someone has taken notice of the absurdity and injustice of their case and is seeking justice for them. The couple is being helped by human rights activist Songkan Achariyasap.
Mr. Songkan points out that it would have been impossible for the middle-aged poor disabled couple such as this to accomplish such a feat.
SENTENCE HALVED, IF YOU SAY YOU DID IT
Forestry officials charged the couple with felling 700 trees over a 72-rai area of protected forest from July 12-19, 2010.
The Criminal Court sentenced them to 30 years in jail, halving their prison terms when they confessed.
The Appeal Court upheld the ruling.
SUPREME COURT ORDERS NEW INVESTIGATION
The Supreme Court is hearing the couple's final appeal.
The activist who had recently taken up the couple's case said the Supreme Court released them on bail after ordering a new investigation.
The couple appealed to the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) on Thursday to speed up the hunt for real culprits.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/901348/jailed-foragers-urge-csd-to-find-illegal-loggers
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