Koh Tao suspects innocent, says govt investigation Team

MYANMAR : A team formed by the Myanmar government to investigate the Koh Tao case has announced that it is confident the two Burmese nationals accused of the double murder are innocent of the crime, The Irrawaddy reported.

 

Three members of a special support team operating out of the Myanmar embassy in Thailand told a press conference on Thursday that Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 21, would be exonerated of the September murder of British tourists Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in Koh Tao, but it will take time, money and effort for the truth to be fully revealed.

“However the Thai judiciary decides on the case, it is our belief that these two kids did not commit the crime,” said Htoo Chit, a spokesman for the investigation. “According to what we know and eyewitness information we have gathered, we believe they are innocent.”

As a longtime migrant rights activist and executive director of the Foundation for Education and Development, Htoo Chit said that the case against the pair had important ramifications for migrant workers in Thailand from across the region.

“This case is not only about Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun,” he said. “This is also about protecting the rights of millions of migrants from Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar who came to work in Thailand due to economic hardship.”

Aung Myo Thant, a lawyer who is part of the embassy’s special support team for the defendants, told the press conference that the translator used during the police interrogation of the suspects falsely claimed to be a representative of the embassy, and told the suspects that they would be subject to a lighter penalty if they admitted their guilt.