An appeals court will make a decision at the start of next year in the case of two Myanmar migrant workers who were sentenced to death in Thailand last December, reports 7Day Daily.
The defendants Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun were arrested in October 2014 in relation to the deaths of two British tourists Hannah Witheridge and David Miller. The pair were convicted on seven counts, including rape and murder, and were handed the death penalty.
“The appellate court has said that they will make a decision at the beginning of 2017. It’ll probably be at some point in January. The court has said that regardless of whether the district attorneys file a response, they will proceed with our request. A decision will definitely be made on the appeal that we’ve submitted. We just don’t know when,” the defendants’ lawyer Aung Myo Thant told 7Day.
The prosecution had been given a final deadline of November 10 to respond to the appeal. This deadline was established following nine extension requests on the prosecution’s part. As of now, they have yet to file any response.
In their appeal, the defendants’ lawyers submitted a 198-page report citing, among other things, lack of DNA evidence and certain disparities within the prosecution’s case, as grounds for a more lenient sentence.
Kyaw Thaung, a representative of the Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT), told 7Day, “The trial court handed them the death penalty for the murder of two foreigners. However, now that the case has been submitted to the appellate court, we’ll see how fair the justice system is. We believe that the appellate court will handle this in a just manner.”
Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun were found guilty by the Koh Samui Court in December of 2015. In addition to being sentenced to death for murder and “conspiracy to hide the crime,” their other convictions included 20 years’ imprisonment for raping Witheridge, six months for illegally entering Thailand, and another six months for illegally residing in the country.
The investigation was highly controversial due to insufficient evidence and allegations that the pair was tortured and coerced into falsely confessing.
The defendants’ lawyers are determined to fight this until the end. Earlier this year, Aung Myo Thant told the Irrawaddy, “Depending on the appeals court verdict, if it is not what we are expecting, then we will take this case to the Supreme Court of Thailand.”
