Bangkok, Thailand – Myanmar campaigners are planning a last-ditch appeal to Thailand’s king to pardon two Myanmar men convicted for the 2014 murder of a British couple on the idyllic island of Koh Tao.
Delegates at the ASEAN Civil Society Conference in Bangkok are collecting signatures this week for a petition that they will deliver to the Thai royal family.
Migrant workers Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin were sentenced to death in late 2015 for the murder of David Miller and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge.
The men said they were tortured into confessing to the killings and their defence argued there were inconsistencies in the DNA evidence used against them.
Thailand’s supreme court rejected their final appeal on August 29, meaning their last hope of being freed is a royal pardon.
“We just want to highlight that justice is for everyone. It doesn’t matter whether you are a migrant worker or an undocumented immigrant, you deserve equal access to justice,” said Aung Myo Min, executive director of Equality Myanmar and one of the campaigners at this week’s conference.
“I hope the king will consider our appeal and make a sound judgement,” he added.
