In recent media reports, after the execution, matters of great concern have arisen, and the question is whether there has been a serious miscarriage of justice. The failure to notify family members before the execution is also disturbing..
“I don’t understand and there was no advanced notification that he would be executed,” Kanita told Matichon from her family home in Trang province. “In reality, family members should be notified if an execution is to be carried out… so the relatives can bid farewell.”
The execution of a perpetrator of a crime, when there are still possible accomplices or co-collaborators not yet arrested or tried is also most disturbing. Was the execution done to 'protect' some other?
On Wednesday, Trang city police said they were still looking for another suspect involved in the crime. The victim’s parents said they urged police years ago to look for another perpetrator, but they claim investigators were dismissive, telling them to gather witnesses and evidence themselves.... He added that Teerasak has never confessed...“We’re keeping up the investigation to bring in another perpetrator,” Prasert[Lt. Col Prasert Songsaeng, who’s in charge of the case] said on Friday
Recent emergence of a eye witness, who allegedly can positively say that Teerasak Longji did not commit the crime is disturbing. Coupled with the police attitude in not wanting to investigate others...in fact asking the family to do their own investigations - find witnesses and evidence...is also most disturbing. Concern is whether the police were prejudiced, incompetent, lazy or simply were victims of 'tunnel vision' in their investigations and prosecutions that has resulted in an in an execution is of great concern.
Hopefully, Thailand will do the necessary investigations...to ensure JUSTICE is done.
Family Not Notified of Man’s Execution
Kanita Longji, 20, at her family home in Trang province, speaks about last night's execution of her older brother, Teerasak Longji. Photo: Matichon BANGKOK — The sister of the first man to be executed in nine years said Tuesday the family was not informed in advance and not given the chance to say goodbye.
Kanita Longji, 20, the younger sister of Teerasak Longji, whose execution last night signaled an end to a de facto moratorium on capital punishment, said her family was not told he would be put to death until after it was carried out.
“I don’t understand and there was no advanced notification that he would be executed,” Kanita told Matichon from her family home in Trang province. “In reality, family members should be notified if an execution is to be carried out… so the relatives can bid farewell.”
Read: Officials Silent on Thailand’s 1st Execution in 9 Years
Kanita said the family was planning to visit him Tuesday because her brother recently sent a letter asking for 2,000 baht. She defended her brother’s crime as less severe than other crimes which drew lesser sentences, such as the 34 years recently handed down to two women accused of dismembering a young woman.
The family was preparing an Islamic funeral for 26-year-old Teerasak and said an air of sadness pervaded their home.
Teerasak was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to die for stabbing a 17-year-old man 24 times and stealing his phone and 2,000 baht cash. The crime took place in 2012.
The head of the Corrections Department has declined to comment on the circumstances behind the unexpected execution after nine years, during which royal pardons have routinely granted clemency. Department chief Narat Savettan said he would not make any comment beyond a statement saying it would serve as a deterrent.
Junta leader Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said Tuesday the execution was carried out in accordance with the law and the views of the general public, which supports the penalty, should be taken into account. Prayuth added that the execution would serve as a lesson and help bring peace and order to the country.- Khaosod English, 19/6/2018
Officials Silent on Thailand’s 1st Execution in 9 Years
BANGKOK
— Death penalty opponents were caught by surprise by Thailand’s first
execution in nine years Monday night while officials are offering no
explanation.
After 26-year-old Teerasak Longji was executed at Bangkok’s Bang
Kwang Central Prison by lethal injection for aggravated murder, the
leading group calling for abolition of capital punishment said Tuesday
it deplored the decision and had no idea why the unexpected execution
occurred now.
“We are not sure,” Amnesty International Thailand Director Piyanut Kotsan said Tuesday morning when asked about the timing.
Piyanut said Amnesty was not in the loop despite years of
discussions with the Justice Ministry. She said her understanding was
that Thailand has committed to becoming an abolitionist state as
reflected in its master plan for human rights.
The last execution occurred in 2009 when two men were put to death
for drug-related crimes. This past October, the head of the government’s
human rights agency signaled the death penalty, which had been in de
facto moratorium since 2009, would eventually be abolished.
“I can’t say when it will end but in practice it will soon be 10
years since no execution has taken place,” Pitikan Sitthidej said in
October. “We don’t know when the death penalty will be abolished.”
Amnesty Thai director Piyanut said that standard practice for the
last resort of clemency has been to obtain a royal pardon commuting
death to life in prison. She said it’s unclear whether a royal pardon
had been sought by Teerasak, who six years ago stabbed a 17-year-old
high school student 24 times to steal his smartphone and wallet in Trang
province.
Corrections Department chief Narat Savettan declined to comment Tuesday on the circumstances.
“I cannot give any comment about this,” he said, adding that the department would not issue any further statement on the matter.
A statement from Narat released Monday shed new light on why an
execution had taken place after nine years. The last paragraph of the
statement stated hope the execution would serve as deterrence.
“It is hoped that this execution will give pause to those thinking of
committing heinous crimes or violating the law to consider the
penalty,” it read.
The statement also pointed out that since the introduction of modern execution in 1935, 325 executions have taken place.
Someone who answered the phone at Bang Kwang Prison said its
director, Sophon Yimpreecha was out for a meeting and could not be
immediately reached.
Amnesty Thailand issued a statement Monday saying execution is deplorable and will not reduce crime.
“This is a deplorable violation of the right to life. Thailand is
shockingly reneging on its own commitment to move towards abolition of
the death penalty and the protection of the right to life, and is also
putting itself out of step with the current global shift away from
capital punishment,” wrote Katherine Gerson, an Amnesty campaigner in
Thailand.
According to Amnesty Thailand, 510 people were on death row as of the
end of 2017, 94 of which were women. The number of those who have
exhausted all final appeals is 193.
Gerson wrote that there is no evidence that the death penalty has any
unique deterrent effect, “so the Thai authorities’ hopes that this move
will reduce crime is deeply misguided.”
Kingsley Abbot, senior legal advisor for the Geneva-based
International Commission of Jurists, tweeted on Monday that execution is
never justifiable and “flies in the face of Thailand’s repeated
commitments on the international to work towards abolition.”
Amnesty announced it will hold a demonstration outside Bang Kwang at 2pm this afternoon.- Khaosod English, 19/6/2018
Executed Man Guilty – But Other Suspect Still at Large: Police
TRANG
— A local police investigator Friday downplayed the significance of new
claims that an inmate executed earlier this week did not murder a high
school student six years ago but acknowledged another perpetrator is
still on the run.
After the first execution in nine years sent shockwaves and drew
criticism from rights groups here and abroad, police responded to doubts
cast on the efficiency of their investigation by insisting witnesses
and evidence irrefutably tied 26-year-old Teerasak Longji to the 2012
crime in Trang province, although they have yet to investigate the new
claim.
“It’s actually not my duty to investigate what is ungrounded. All
details are already in the case file,” said Lt. Col Prasert Songsaeng,
who’s in charge of the case. “I’m not going to dismiss it, but if he
really knew about the case, he’d have come to us a long time ago.”
Prasert said police will seek the unidentified witness for an interview.
The witness’s claim emerged yesterday online. In it he
said that he and another friend saw two other teenagers repeatedly stab
another teen while he was riding a motorbike past the scene. He stopped
to see what was happening and had to flee the perpetrators. He said
Teerasak, whom he was familiar with, was not present at the time.
Then he saw Teerasak riding toward the scene on a motorbike from the opposite direction and warned him not to continue.
Teerasak was accused and convicted of stabbing a 17-year-old high
school student 24 times before stealing his smartphone and wallet.
Police said Danudet Sookmak, the victim, was chased about 200 meters
before ending up in the park where he was brutally murdered. Danudet’s
girlfriend was also there trying to stop the culprits, according to
police.
On Wednesday, Trang city police said they were still looking for
another suspect involved in the crime. The victim’s parents said they
urged police years ago to look for another perpetrator, but they claim
investigators were dismissive, telling them to gather witnesses and
evidence themselves.
According to Prasert, police were able to obtain an arrest warrant
for Teerasak, who had several drug- and weapons-related crimes on his
record, within a day of the murder based on strong witness statements.
They captured him the next day. He added that Teerasak has never
confessed.
“We’re keeping up the investigation to bring in another perpetrator,” Prasert said on Friday.- Khaosod English, 22/6/2018
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