Supporters of two Myanmar migrant workers who have been sentenced to death in Thailand gathered in front of Maha Bandula Park in Yangon on 2 September. They have sent an appeal to the Thai King requesting a royal pardon.

 

Sayardaw U Par Mauk Kha said that two innocent workers have been punished due to the weakness of the rule of law in Thailand. We need to convey genuine loving kindness to Thai King because the lives of the workers are in his hand.

 

“I implicitly believe that Win and Zaw would be pardoned if all our citizens could express kindness so that the Thai King could make a good decision.” the monk said.

 

Ko Win Zaw Tun and Ko Zaw Lin Tun have been charged for seven cases including the murder and rape of two British nationals on the island of Koh Tao in 2014, the Koh Samui Court convicted and sentenced them to death in December 2015.

 

They denied any involvement in the murder and argued that there was no conclusive evidence. Furthermore the DNA found on the suspected murder weapon did not match the DNA samples the suspects provided to strengthen their case. Unfortunately, their appeals were rejected.

 

So, they appealed to the Supreme Court of Thailand but the final appeal was rejected on 29 August.

So now they have one last option, which is to submit a request for a royal pardon to the Thai King, and their parents have requested the Myanmar government to seek justice.

 

“My son had to work abroad because we are poor. Now, he has wrongly been charged. So, we’d like the Myanmar government to help them,” said Daw May Thein, mother of Win Zaw Tun.

 

U Par Mauk Kha said that the Myanmar government should request the Thai King to show clemency for its people.

 

The monk added that Myanmar people and monks waged a protest and prayer in front of the Thai embassy previously, but they are not allowed to now.