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Two Britons 'dead On Thai Beach'


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200 policemen deployed to guard two Myanmar men on Koh Tao

 

 

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About 200 policemen were deployed to guard two Myanmar suspects during a reenactment of their alleged murder of two British tourists.

 

About 1,000 residents of Koh Tao turned up to look at the suspects during the reenactment at 11 am. Police had to stand surrounding the suspects to guard them.

 

 

 

http://www.nationmul...n-30244696.html

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Rape suspects charged

 

 

Two illegal migrant workers from Myanmar have been charged with violent rape leading to death and murder in connection with the killings of two British citizens on Koh Tao, off Surat Thani, after police said their DNA samples matched that found on the female victim's body.

 

Win and Saw, both 21, underwent a re-enactment yesterday watched by a large number of onlookers, who were kept away from the scene by a 200-strong police force deployed to prevent a large number of angry residents from attacking the two suspects.

 

Maw, 23, whose DNA matched that found on a cigarette butt had not been charged as of yesterday.

 

The three men have also been charged with illegal entry, after they were found to have entered Thailand and resided illegally. Win and Saw are in the custody of the Koh Samui court, while there is no information on where Maw has been detained.

 

Acting commander of the police Institute of Forensic Medicine, Pol Lt-General Manoo Mekmok, said two semen samples found on the female murder victim matched that from Win and Saw, and the one found on the cigarette at the scene of the crime matched that of Maw.

 

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha praised the police for the breakthrough in the much-publicised case, saying he would soon reward them. He said both men could not be scapegoats, as their DNA matched the samples found on the victim's body.

 

Citing from the "confessions" of the two suspects, police said they entered Thailand about two weeks before the double murders, at dawn on September 15, and worked at AC Pub as general workers. The men said they hardly left the pub, as they had limited knowledge of the Thai language.

 

Another police source said the three men had been monitored secretly after police detected signs of suspicious behaviour after interviewing staff at AC Pub and all shops and restaurants. One of the men, who police did name, had dyed his hair from gold to black after the crime took place.

 

The two told police they had raped the woman and killed her, before stealing her mobile phone and other belongings, and destroyed the unit at the back of their living quarters. They said they had continued to work at the pub, as police had prevented all workers from leaving. Win managed to leave the tourist island on a night boat trip a few days ago but he was arrested when he reached Surat Thani.

 

A police source said that both Win and Saw were smuggled into Thailand via Ranong province by an agent who charged them Bt5,000 each. He said fellow Myanmar workers had also noticed suspicious behaviour from the two after the murders, and secretly tipped off a Myanmar worker chief, who later told the police, which led to their arrests, the source added.

 

Tour business operators yesterday lit 5,000 firecrackers to celebrate the arrests of the two suspects, and said they believed both men were the real culprits. A merit-making ceremony was later held on Chor Por Ror beach, where the bodies were found, to bless the area.

 

National police chief Pol General Somyot Poompanmoung said evidence against both Win and Saw from surveillance camera footage and DNA identification had proved that they were "100 per cent the killers - not scapegoats". He said Maw jointly played a guitar with Win and Saw. Somyot arrived in Koh Tao on Thursday night on a helicopter trip and jointly questioned the three men for two hours, after they had been detained since Thursday evening with details on nationality and identities being held confidential.

 

Leads in the case:

 

- Security-camera images show one of the suspects buying a packet of cigarettes at a convenience store in Koh Tao. A cigarette butt found near the victims' bodies is the same brand.

 

- A damaged iPhone belonging to one of the victims is found in bushes behind the house where Win, one of the suspects, lives.

 

- Tests show DNA samples of the suspects, Win and Saw, match semen traces found on the woman's body. A DNA test indicates that Maw had smoked the cigarette found at the crime scene.

 

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/national/Rape-suspects-charged-30244751.html

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BOILING WATER AND BEATINGS - CLAIM FRIENDS OF BURMESE ON MURDER AND RAPE CHARGES

PLEASE DON'T CLOSE THIS CASE!

Three of the out of group of nine Burmese who were friends of the two who now face the death penalty in Thailand for murder of two British backpackers were tortured by Thai police six days ago, it was claimed today.

Praying and begging for forgiveness (Khao Sod) Or is this staged?

As police prepared to showcase their investigation into the barbaric murders of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller,24 and the double rape of Hannah, a statement from the Burmese community on the island claimed that three friends of Win and Saw, the accused, were tortured by Thai police who beat them physically and poured boiling water over them.

They were all playing the game of takroh (kicking a ball made out of bamboo cane) when the game was raided by police last Saturday night. And the two suspects now facing death by lethal injection were innocent, says the Burmese community

Their statement was backed by Aung Kyaw, President of the Myanmar Migrant Labour Association in Thailand who said: ‘We do not believe the suspects did it’ and called for an independent investigation to verify Thai police claims

Early today the statement by the unnamed Burmese was issued to the British and Burmese Embassies in Bangkok. It has been seen by British Ambassador Mark Kent. The statement and photos have also been seen by this site and are in limited circulation. Aung Kyaw has called for an independent investigation and independent monitoring of the DNA.

There is a genuine fear of reprisals among the Burmese on Koh Tao. Police have yet to fully name the two suspects in their custody although they have now paraded them for the media.

The statement, the source of which has been identified to the Ambassadors read:

“On 27th September at 7pm night, nine Rakhine ethnic migrant workers living and working on Koh Tao irregularly (without documents) were accosted by a group of Thai police officers, who tried to catch them when they were peacefully playing cane ball (takroh).

“Six among the nine migrants trying to run away were caught by police. Another three migrants were able to run away from the police to escape from the arrest.

“Three migrants from the six migrants caught were physically beaten and their bodies scolded through pouring over hot boiling water as a means to get information about the three people who had run away from the police arrest. All were then they were released.â€

“(Name redacted), an elder of the Rakkhine migrant community Rakkhine who (redacted) recorded three Rakhine victims and their wounds from beating/scolding and sent their photos to Myanmar embassy.

“As soon as he sent to the Myanmar embassy, the Embassy called to Thai police department for the abuse and Thai police replied to Myanmar embassy that they didn't know which group had been beaten and who beat the migrant workers and they said that they will investigate the case.

“According to (name redacted), the three Rakhine victims who were abused were told that the problem will become bigger if the Myanmar embassy were involved in the current case. Also they didn't have any firm evidence so they didn’t wish to report their case to the embassy.

“(name redacted) then met the 3 Rakkhine workers who had ran from police and found that they had no documents so he suggested them to leave from Ko Tao Island as soon as possible if they didn’t have a passport and also no employer. He also reminded them that Thai police were searching to catch them. One of the three immigrants then left the island urgently as they had no documents.

“As for yesterday/today information in the media about arrests, the community then rang us vigorously and said that 3 Rakhine guys were caught by police; two were caught in the jungle, one was in Surat Thani, and all have been accused of murder. The migrant community very upset as they believe the three migrants have been framed for the murders.â€

Captives were told to run because they had no papers

"Most Burmese stayed on the island because although they were scared of the Thai police they knew their DNA could not match," said a Burmese migrant contacted by mobile phone. But over the last seven days we have been getting scared because police did not seem to be able to catch anyone."

After the murder of Kirsty Jones, 23, from Brecon, in Chiang Mai in 2000 a Burmese Karen was taken to a private house by Thai police and tortured for a confesson. They demanded he masturbate but when he refused Thai police tried to do it themselves to gather sperm evidence.

Burmese workers were also the first suspects in the rape and murder of Katherine Horton, a Reading University student on Koh Samui six years later.

Thai Police say however they are happy they have caught the killers and rapists and have DNA and CCTV evidence to prove it, plus Hannah's mobile phone, which they claim was found on their premises. They also claim to have a witness, but that probably does not mean a witness to the murder. It can be anything from a witness saying they were seen in the 7/11 to a witness seeing them run up and down the street.Mirror

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Independently Investigate the horrific murders of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller

 

 

Knowing full well that the Thai authorities are notoriously corrupt and have in the past intentionally withheld and/or planted evidence in order to protect murderers that are well connected,and with accusations of police offering bribes to false witnesses, we are not able to trust that the two Myanmar nationals being detained have not had their confessions forced out of them and as such cannot trust that they are responsible for the horrific rape and murders of David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23.

 

This being said, we demand a full independent investigation to be conducted by the government of the United Kingdom into these deaths in the hopes that the families of these victims may know justice has been served and that the deaths of two more possible innocents might be avoided.

 

[Petition in Thai]

 

 

https://www.change.org/p/the-government-of-the-united-kingdom-independently-investigate-the-horrific-murders-of-hannah-witheridge-and-david-miller

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