Thai Island Murders: Trial Of Suspects Begins

Written By Unknown on Sabtu, 27 Desember 2014 | 00.48

The trial has begun of two Burmese workers charged with the murder of two British tourists on a backpacker island in Thailand.

Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, both 21, deny killing Hannah Witheridge and David Miller on the island of Koh Tao in September.

Post-mortem examinations revealed that Ms Witheridge, 23, from Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, died from head wounds, while Mr Miller, 24, from Jersey, suffered severe blows to the head and subsequently drowned.

The trial was scheduled to begin in February but has unexpectedly been brought forward.

Both the prosecution and defence presented evidence to the court.

Andy Hall, a migrants' rights activist who was in court, told Sky News: "They're very confident in what they're saying, and they seemed very happy and very relaxed."

He added that the two men told the judge: "We don't know anything, we were just drunk and we went back to our rooms. That's all we know."

The trial will resume on 8 July, when prosecution witnesses will give evidence.

The judge rejected a defence plea to delay proceedings until they could further evaluate evidence.

At a hearing earlier this month Nakorn Chompoochart, a lawyer for the two men, said they had pleaded not guilty to a number of charges relating to the deaths.

The pair initially confessed to the murders, but later retracted their confessions, saying they had been threatened and beaten by Thai police.

The police deny this, and say they have solid evidence.

After Friday's hearing, Mr Chompoochart said there was more time to convince witnesses currently in Myanmar to appear in court.

A committee of investigators set up by Burma's embassy in Bangkok said last week that potential witnesses able to prove the suspects' innocence were too scared to appear in court for fear of retribution from police in Thailand or their former employers.

"Now we have witnesses but the problem is they are scared.

"We might need more time and we might have to go to Myanmar to meet them," Nakorn told reporters.

"I'm confident because we have enough information to convince the court that the two did not commit the crime."

The murders dealt a blow to Thailand's tourism industry, which is struggling to recover after months of political unrest and a coup.

The Thai government had called on police to solve the case quickly.

A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We continue to monitor the case closely and expect the trial to be conducted in a fair and transparent way in line with international standards.

"The British government cannot interfere with Thailand's judicial processes just as other governments are unable to interfere in UK judicial processes."

"We continue to provide support and assistance to both the families of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller."


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