Two Myanmar suspects charged with the premeditated murder of two British tourists on Surat Thani's Koh Tao on Sept 15 have told Myanmar embassy officials they were physically assaulted prior to their confession, the embassy says.
The five-member Myanmar delegation led by U Tun Aye, in charge of consular affairs, met a police investigation team in Surat Thani.
They also met suspects Win and Zaw Rim, both aged 21, and talked to correctional officials on Monday.
The delegation yesterday observed police handing over the case to prosecutors.
U Tun Aye told the Bangkok Post over the phone that it was too early to say whether his team was happy with the information they obtained from the authorities.
"We have to analyse all the information we gathered before we can get a response from our ambassador,'' he said.
Another Myanmar delegate, U Moewai, said the embassy team had been told by the two Myanmar suspects that they had been tortured while they underwent interrogation.
U Moewai said the two also told him they did not know who abused them, though they thought policemen could be responsible.
"We haven't received any appeal letters from NGOs yet [media reports said migrant worker networks have appealed to the embassy about physical abuse during the probe]. But the suspects told us they were assaulted," U Moewai said.
The team discussed the information they obtained over the two-day trip and will submit a report to the ambassador, he said.
The Thai authorities provided a lawyer for the two Myanmar suspects but the embassy task force investigating the matter was considering providing another lawyer to help them, U Moewai said.
Hannah Witheridge, 23, and David Miller, 24, were found dead on Sairee beach of the island, a favourite among tourists.
Meanwhile, human rights activists have pleaded for more transparency and hope the upcoming prosecution phase of the case will be carried out more fairly.
Pornpen Kongkachornkiat, Cross-Cultural Foundation director and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) sub-committee member on civil and political rights, said she acknowledged the police worked hard, but she wanted to tackle the concerns of many people over judicial process.
The circumstances surrounding the arrest of the two Myanmar workers — the forced DNA sampling and lack of access to a lawyer before being charged — were dubious, leading to impressions the suspects were not aware of their rights and that justice had not been done, said Ms Pornpen.
She and other human rights advocates from the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF) and Migrant Worker Rights Network were in Surat Thani to discuss the case with investigators but they were not allowed to meet the suspects.
Only NHRC member Prinya Sirisakan was allowed to meet them at Koh Samui prison.
"Now that the case is out of police hands, we expect prosecutors will complete the case with due process," said Ms Pornpen.