Verdicts in Thai Human Trafficking Trial Years Away
BANGKOK, 10 Nov 2015 (Reuters) -
A Thai court's examination of 500 witnesses in a case against 88 suspected human traffickers will take as long as two years, a court official said on Tuesday, meaning verdicts in a case that sparked an international outcry are even further away.
The defendants, including a senior General, were brought before a Bangkok court on Tuesday for examination of evidence and witnesses following a crackdown on Thailand's lucrative smuggling syndicates.
Lieutenant General Manus Kongpan, suspected of involvement in human trafficking, arrives at the criminal court in Bangkok on 10 November 10, ©Pornchai Kittiwongsakul (AFP)
"There are 500 witnesses in this case. Altogether it will take around 200 meetings to review witnesses which means examination will take two years," a court official told reporters.
The investigation and arrests followed the discovery in May of 30 bodies in a grave near a human trafficking camp on a hillside deep in a jungle near the Thailand-Malaysia border, which sparked an international outcry.
However, some rights groups have questioned Thailand's commitment to end the illegal trade following the resignation on the weekend of a senior policeman in the investigation.
Major General Paween Pongsirin, whose team led many of the arrests, said on Monday an order to transfer him to Thailand's south would expose him to revenge by members of trafficking syndicates still at large.
Paween said he would disband his unit, raising concerns about protection for police officers.
"I am truly sorry about this," Paween told reporters outside the court. "I still want to be a policeman and be useful to society."
Earlier, another court official said the examination of witnesses was expected to take just four days, but this would next to impossible given the number involved.
Sunai Phasuk, Thailand researcher at Human Rights Watch, said examination of witnesses in the case could take more than two years.
"One thing is clear, this will be a drawn-out trial and witnesses must feel safe and protected," Sunai told Reuters. "These are just some traffickers. There needs to be a follow-up investigation of others."
Illegal migrants, many of them Rohingya Muslims from eastern Myanmar and Bangladesh facing religious and ethnic persecution, often brave dangerous journeys by sea to reach Malaysia and Thailand. The migrants are often held for ransom in squalid detention camps and according to some accounts face torture and starvation.
The 88 suspects, who were brought to Bangkok in two buses, include two men who police have said are among the kingpins.
Despite the police crackdown, the U.S. kept Thailand for a second year on Tier 3 - the lowest tier - in its annual Trafficking in Persons report in July for failing to comply with the minimum U.S. standards for the elimination of trafficking.
UPDATE:
- Probe Wound up Too Quickly? -
However, the junta's rhetoric has been thrown into doubt by the senior police officer who led the trafficking investigation.
In an interview with AFP last month, Major General Paween Pongsirin said his investigation was closed too quickly, with many suspects still at liberty and his unit disbanded.
He also said he feared for his life after implicating senior military figures in the grisly, multi-million dollar trade.
Over the weekend he handed in his resignation after superiors ordered him to take up a new post in Thailand's deep south, an insurgency-plagued region where the army effectively controls security.
Thailand has long been a hub for the trafficking of persecuted Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, who in recent years have been joined by Bangladeshi economic migrants.
Many were held against their will in camps or on boats until relatives paid exorbitant ransoms.
Survivors have testified that beatings, starvation, murder and rape was commonplace. Dozens of graves were found in jungle camps earlier this year.
With the monsoon ending, rights groups warn that boats are likely to set sail in the coming weeks.
Thailand has remained on the bottom tier of the State Department's trafficking list for a second year in a row, alongside nations like Iran, Libya, North Korea and Syria.
Suspects facing human trafficking charges arrive at the criminal court in Bangkok on November 10, 2015 ©Pornchai Kittiwongsakul (AFP)
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