TWO BURMESE MEN suspected of killing the British holidaymakers Hannah Witheridge and David Miller, have retracted their confessions, according to regional media.
The Bangkok Post, citing a Burmese news website, says the two men told a Burmese lawyer that they only confessed to the murders after they were tortured and beaten by police on the resort island of Koh Tao.
“They said they didn’t do it, that the Thai police…beat them until they confessed,”Aung Myo Thant is quoted as saying.
They’re pleading with the Myanmar government to look into the case and find out the truth.
They were a really pitiful sight. Their bodies had all sorts of bruises. I have already reported all that I have seen today to my government.
Earlier this week, Amnesty International‘s Asia-Pacific Director Richard Bennett called for an independent investigation of the allegations.
The Thai authorities must initiate an independent, effective and transparent investigation into mounting allegations of torture and other ill-treatment by police.
The pressure to be seen to be solving an appalling crime that has garnered considerable attention should not result in the violation of rights, including to a fair trial.
The two migrant workers, who face the death penalty if convicted, have also been charged with raping 23-year-old Witheridge, before beating her and 24-year-old Miller to death on 14 September.
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