Bangkok Post, Koh Samui :
Two Myanmar men were sentenced to death on Thursday for murdering two British backpackers on Koh Tao last year in an internationally watched case that raised questions about the the kingdom’s justice system and tourist safety.
Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty of killing David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose bodies were found on the resort island’s
Sai Ree beach on Sept 15 last year. The two migrants were arrested about two weeks after the murders. Police said the pair confessed to the killings and that DNA samples linked them to the crimes. Both men later retracted their confessions, saying they had been coerced by the police and prosecutors shone an international spotlight on supposed holes in the evidence.
The court, however, put aside minor details, focusing principally on personal accounts and physical evidence.
“Both defendants are guilty of murder for which the penalty is the death sentence,” an unnamed judge told the court, adding they were also “found guilty of rape and conspiracy to hide the crime.” The pair also were sentenced to two additional years for theft and illegal entry into the country.
Both men are expected to appeal within the next month. In the interim, they will be moved from Samui Prison to the higher-security Nakhon Si Thammarat Prison. In its ruling, the court said that prosecutors had presented evidence from the crime scene and provided witness testimony that proved “without any doubt to the court” that the two men had killed Miller and raped Witheridge before murdering her “to cover up their wrongdoings”. DNA evidence showed that the semen of both men was found inside Witheridge, the court said.
The judge said there was no weight to the two men’s claims that they had been tortured during interrogation by police.
The migrant workers, who were shackled in court, were grim-faced as the sentence was delivered. As their fates were being read out, the defendants mothers sobbed and consoled each other. Win Zaw Htun’s mother cried loudly and then fainted as wardens took her son away. Sue Miller, right, Ian Miller, left, and Michael Miller, centre, family members of British backpacker David Miller, speak to reporters outside of the court in Koh Samui Dec 24. Miller’s family told the German Press Agency the “evidence is absolutely overwhelming” against Myanmar defendants.
Two Myanmar men were sentenced to death on Thursday for murdering two British backpackers on Koh Tao last year in an internationally watched case that raised questions about the the kingdom’s justice system and tourist safety.
Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun were found guilty of killing David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, whose bodies were found on the resort island’s
Sai Ree beach on Sept 15 last year. The two migrants were arrested about two weeks after the murders. Police said the pair confessed to the killings and that DNA samples linked them to the crimes. Both men later retracted their confessions, saying they had been coerced by the police and prosecutors shone an international spotlight on supposed holes in the evidence.
The court, however, put aside minor details, focusing principally on personal accounts and physical evidence.
“Both defendants are guilty of murder for which the penalty is the death sentence,” an unnamed judge told the court, adding they were also “found guilty of rape and conspiracy to hide the crime.” The pair also were sentenced to two additional years for theft and illegal entry into the country.
Both men are expected to appeal within the next month. In the interim, they will be moved from Samui Prison to the higher-security Nakhon Si Thammarat Prison. In its ruling, the court said that prosecutors had presented evidence from the crime scene and provided witness testimony that proved “without any doubt to the court” that the two men had killed Miller and raped Witheridge before murdering her “to cover up their wrongdoings”. DNA evidence showed that the semen of both men was found inside Witheridge, the court said.
The judge said there was no weight to the two men’s claims that they had been tortured during interrogation by police.
The migrant workers, who were shackled in court, were grim-faced as the sentence was delivered. As their fates were being read out, the defendants mothers sobbed and consoled each other. Win Zaw Htun’s mother cried loudly and then fainted as wardens took her son away. Sue Miller, right, Ian Miller, left, and Michael Miller, centre, family members of British backpacker David Miller, speak to reporters outside of the court in Koh Samui Dec 24. Miller’s family told the German Press Agency the “evidence is absolutely overwhelming” against Myanmar defendants.
