PHUKET: A member of a provincial administrative organisation has been sentenced to more than 20 years in jail for human trafficking in the first case of its kind involving boatpeople in Thailand.
The sentence of 22 years and six months was handed to Anut Hayeemasa on Tuesday in Songkhla Provincial Court after investigators secretly brought back to Thailand a key witness who had been intimidated into fleeing to Malaysia.
Immigration Division 6 Commander, Police Major General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, oversaw the ''sting'' operation.
''This is a big step forward for human trafficking enforcement in Thailand,'' he said. ''It's a breakthrough for those people who believe these crimes should be stopped.''
Convictions for human trafficking are difficult and the case against Anut succeeded because he was caught paying 60,000 baht for a 25-year-old Rohingya man in a ''sting'' at Hat Yai bus terminal on March 10 last year.
The key witness, who has since been placed as a refugee in Sweden, was kept in a safe house after the arrest. But it is believed he was intimidated by trafficking gang associates of the accused and fled to Malaysia.
Major General Thatchai sent a secret agent to Malaysia to bring back the key witness.
It is believed that the accused and his defence team were unpleasantly surprised when the key witness arrived in court.
Other senior officials in Satun province have since been accused of trafficking related crimes and are awaiting trial.
Previous cases of human trafficking of boatpeople in Thailand have failed because witnesses live in fear and are not always out of reach of intimidation.
Police and other law officers have been uncertain about how to proceed because of the need for traffickers to be caught red-handed.
Many cases in which circumstantial evidence is strong have been dropped because of lack of proof that money changed hands.
Thousands of boatpeople from Burma and more recently Bangladesh have streamed through Thailand for years along a trafficking pipeline that flowed without interruption until earlier this year when mass graves were discovered at secret jungle camps on the Thai-Malaysia border.
Boatloads of hundreds of mistreated men, women and children were found at sea off Thailand soon after.
The military government has undertaken to end human trafficking in Thailand, but years of inaction and widespread profit-taking from the trade in people means a moral and ethical turnaround could take years.
Anut Hayeema pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal. He was sentenced to 18 months for keeping an illegal migrant, six years for human trafficking and 15 years for holding a person to ransom.
Declaration of Interest
A verdict is due on September 1 in the criminal defamation and Computer Crimes Act action against Phuketwan journalists Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison. The pair are being sued by the Royal Thai Navy over a 41-word paragraph republished from a Reuters series on Burma's Rohingya boatpeople. The series won a Pulitzer Prize.
The Royal Thai Navy's precedent-setting military-versus-media action predates last May's Army takeover in Thailand. Maximum penalty for Morison and Khun Chutima is seven years' jail.
The journalists remain on bail of 100,000 baht each, provided by the Andaman Community Rights and Legal Aid Centre, based in Trang province. Other groups and organisations have also offered financial help.
Most of the legal costs of the case are being met by the London-based Media Legal Defence Initiative.
In Thailand, a group of more than 10 lawyers have teamed up to provide legal counsel. They include the Human Rights Lawyers' Association, iLaw and SR Law.
WATCH the Phuketwan Case, by Dateline
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/thailands-moment-truth
WATCH Journey into Hell, by Four Corners
From Burma through Thailand, an award-winning current affairs team traces official complicity in the brutal treatment of the Rohingya and Phuketwan's part in its exposure.
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2015/06/22/4257490.htm
WATCH How Trafficking Works
Phuketwan Investigative reporter Chutima Sidasathian says of traficking in 2014: ''It's worse and worse, day by day. Nobody cares''.
http://journeyman.tv/67116/short-films/rohingya-hd.html
LISTEN The Rohingya Solution
A tragedy almost beyond words has been unfolding in Thailand, where a human smuggling network is thriving with the full knowledge of some corrupt law enforcement officers. Alan Morison of Phuketwan talks to Australia's AM program.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4231108.htm
The sentence of 22 years and six months was handed to Anut Hayeemasa on Tuesday in Songkhla Provincial Court after investigators secretly brought back to Thailand a key witness who had been intimidated into fleeing to Malaysia.
Immigration Division 6 Commander, Police Major General Thatchai Pitaneelaboot, oversaw the ''sting'' operation.
''This is a big step forward for human trafficking enforcement in Thailand,'' he said. ''It's a breakthrough for those people who believe these crimes should be stopped.''
Convictions for human trafficking are difficult and the case against Anut succeeded because he was caught paying 60,000 baht for a 25-year-old Rohingya man in a ''sting'' at Hat Yai bus terminal on March 10 last year.
The key witness, who has since been placed as a refugee in Sweden, was kept in a safe house after the arrest. But it is believed he was intimidated by trafficking gang associates of the accused and fled to Malaysia.
Major General Thatchai sent a secret agent to Malaysia to bring back the key witness.
It is believed that the accused and his defence team were unpleasantly surprised when the key witness arrived in court.
Other senior officials in Satun province have since been accused of trafficking related crimes and are awaiting trial.
Previous cases of human trafficking of boatpeople in Thailand have failed because witnesses live in fear and are not always out of reach of intimidation.
Police and other law officers have been uncertain about how to proceed because of the need for traffickers to be caught red-handed.
Many cases in which circumstantial evidence is strong have been dropped because of lack of proof that money changed hands.
Thousands of boatpeople from Burma and more recently Bangladesh have streamed through Thailand for years along a trafficking pipeline that flowed without interruption until earlier this year when mass graves were discovered at secret jungle camps on the Thai-Malaysia border.
Boatloads of hundreds of mistreated men, women and children were found at sea off Thailand soon after.
The military government has undertaken to end human trafficking in Thailand, but years of inaction and widespread profit-taking from the trade in people means a moral and ethical turnaround could take years.
Anut Hayeema pleaded not guilty and plans to appeal. He was sentenced to 18 months for keeping an illegal migrant, six years for human trafficking and 15 years for holding a person to ransom.
Declaration of Interest
A verdict is due on September 1 in the criminal defamation and Computer Crimes Act action against Phuketwan journalists Chutima Sidasathian and Alan Morison. The pair are being sued by the Royal Thai Navy over a 41-word paragraph republished from a Reuters series on Burma's Rohingya boatpeople. The series won a Pulitzer Prize.
The Royal Thai Navy's precedent-setting military-versus-media action predates last May's Army takeover in Thailand. Maximum penalty for Morison and Khun Chutima is seven years' jail.
The journalists remain on bail of 100,000 baht each, provided by the Andaman Community Rights and Legal Aid Centre, based in Trang province. Other groups and organisations have also offered financial help.
Most of the legal costs of the case are being met by the London-based Media Legal Defence Initiative.
In Thailand, a group of more than 10 lawyers have teamed up to provide legal counsel. They include the Human Rights Lawyers' Association, iLaw and SR Law.
WATCH the Phuketwan Case, by Dateline
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/story/thailands-moment-truth
WATCH Journey into Hell, by Four Corners
From Burma through Thailand, an award-winning current affairs team traces official complicity in the brutal treatment of the Rohingya and Phuketwan's part in its exposure.
http://www.abc.net.au/4corners/stories/2015/06/22/4257490.htm
WATCH How Trafficking Works
Phuketwan Investigative reporter Chutima Sidasathian says of traficking in 2014: ''It's worse and worse, day by day. Nobody cares''.
http://journeyman.tv/67116/short-films/rohingya-hd.html
LISTEN The Rohingya Solution
A tragedy almost beyond words has been unfolding in Thailand, where a human smuggling network is thriving with the full knowledge of some corrupt law enforcement officers. Alan Morison of Phuketwan talks to Australia's AM program.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2015/s4231108.htm
Great news!
This convicted criminal represents only the very tip of a huge iceberg. The authorities will never catch and convict all the villains but today is a good day.
Cheers
Posted by Ian Yarwood on August 27, 2015 12:34