Court to rule Tuesday on Koh Tao murder appeal

Court to rule Tuesday on Koh Tao murder appeal

Zaw Lin, left, and Win Zaw Htun were arrested on Koh Tao about two weeks after the brutal murders of two young British travellers on Sept 15, 2014. (AP file photo)
Zaw Lin, left, and Win Zaw Htun were arrested on Koh Tao about two weeks after the brutal murders of two young British travellers on Sept 15, 2014. (AP file photo)

Koh Samui Court is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether to accept the appeal request against the death sentence handed down to the two Myanmar nationals convicted of murdering two British backpackers in Koh Tao in September 2014. 

Amporn Sungthong, a lawyer for the two Myanmar nationals, submitted a 319-page document to the court, before the deadline Monday.

The court was too busy to make a decision on Monday and told the lawyer to return Tuesday for a decision.

If the court does not accept the appeal, it is expected the defendants may cite new reasons and request another counter-appeal to have the ruling reconsidered.

Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun, both 22, were sentenced to death in December 2015 for the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, and the murder of David Miller, 24, on the resort island on Sept 15, 2014.

In March, the Appeal Court for Region 8 upheld the death sentence for the two.

The defence team, led by Nakhon Chomphuchat, believes police interrogations conducted on the two during the investigation were unlawful, citing that they did not have a lawyer present at the time of the questioning.

The defence team still hopes for justice, Mr Nakhon said.

The main arguments in the defence’s appeal comprise the investigations not being in line with “international standards of forensic science”, and the defendants not being provided an interpreter during the process.

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