Thailand urged to re-open murder investigation
Thailand is being put under pressure to reopen the investigation into the murder of two British backpackers following claims that the two Burmese suspects confessed to the crime under torture.
Burmese migrants Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, both 21, claim they were doused in petrol by police who threatened to set them alight unless they confessed to killing Hannah Witheridge and David Millar on the holiday island of Koh Tao in September.
The two men also say they were beaten by officers and they have since retracted their confessions.
A lawyer for the Burmese embassy’s legal team confirmed a request to reopen the investigation has been made to Thailand’s ministry for legal affairs, said the Guardian.
Burma has asked that a special team be formed to re-investigate the case.
The Guardian report also claimed that the UK Foreign Office has raised concerns with a Thai diplomat that the country’s police might have ‘sought an easy solution to the crime’ to avoid further harming Thailand’s tourism industry.
The two suspects were filmed being forced by the police to publicly re-enact the police’s version of the incident on the beach where the two bodies were found, after which they confessed to the crime.
The National Human Rights Commission has asked the Thai police to respond to allegations that the men were tortured.
Linsey McNeill
Editor Linsey McNeill has been writing about travel for more than three decades. Bylines include The Times, Telegraph, Observer, Guardian and Which? plus the South China Morning Post. She also shares insider tips on thetraveljournalist.co.uk
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