Two Myanmar men await verdict on final appeal for Koh Tao murder case

Two Myanmar men await verdict on final appeal for Koh Tao murder case

The Thai High Court still has not handed down a verdict for the final appeal of two Myanmar men who have been given the death sentence for the murder of two British tourists on Koh Tao in southern Thailand.

U Aung Myo Thant, a lawyer from the Myanmar Embassy’s special delegation, said the high court still has not informed the defense team about handing down the verdict even though Thai prosecution team submitted a counter-appeal to the court on March 23.

“The verdict has not been handed down yet. We are waiting for the verdict. According to their country’s law, [the court] has to inform both the prosecution team and the defense team about date for handing down the final verdict. Then, the verdict has to be read in front of the defendant whether he comes or not. This is the law of Thailand. We still haven’t been informed yet so we are waiting for it. The Lawyers Council of Thailand is also waiting. The verdict hasn’t been handed down yet,” he explained.

Although the Thai High Court ordered the prosecution team to submit their counter-appeal by October 22, 2017, the deadline was extended for six months under various reasons including lack of readiness and coincidence with Thai holidays.

Now, both the prosecution team and defense team are waiting for the final verdict after the prosecution team submitted its counter-appeal on March 23.

The two Myanmar nationals submitted a 319-page appeal to the High Court via Koh Samui Court on August 21, 2017 after they were given the death sentence for killing a pair of British tourists.

“Actually, we should know [the final verdict] within three or six months. Since this is an important case, I think it will take more than three months. I think it will be handed down around June,” said U Aung Myo Thant.

Koh Samui Court gave the death sentence to two Myanmar migrant workers, Ko Win Zaw Tun and Ko Zaw Lin, over the murder of two British tourists, David Miller and Hannah Witheridge, on December 24, 2015. Two appeals have been submitted to the appeal court after cooperating with Thai lawyers.

After the murders took place, Thai police officials announced that Ko Win Zaw Tun and Ko Zaw Lin admitted to the murders. However, the two men declared later that they did not commit the murders and they only admitted to the murders after they were tortured by the Thai police.

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