BANGKOK — A martial court has reversed its ruling to allow a single mother to be released on bail while she awaits trial for allegedly spreading a rumor about junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha.

Police say Rinda Paruechabutr, 45, started a spurious rumor on social media that Gen. Prayuth had transferred 10 billion baht to an offshore bank account in Singapore. She is facing up to twelve years in prison on charges of violating the Computer Crime Act, inciting unrest, and causing panic.

She was arrested on 9 July and kept in prison for three days after Bangkok’s martial court ordered her to be jailed while she awaited trial.

However, the court issued a new ruling today to approve Rinda’s request for bail, setting her bond money at 100,000 baht, Matichon reported. The judge reportedly said Rinda was unlikely to flee the country, and had to take care of her two children outside the prison.

Rinda became the sole guardian of her children, ages 7 and 16, after her husband passed away in 2012.

Police say she belongs to a local chapter of the Redshirt movement – which opposed the May 2014 coup – in Pathum Thani province. 

Under the conditions of her release, Rinda is barred from leaving the country or participating in any political campaigns.

The ruling came after 30 people gathered outside the entrance to Bangkok Remand Prison last night to hold a vigil for Rinda and what they described as "other political prisoners." The gathering was organized by several pro-democracy groups, including the New Democracy Movement, Resistant Citizens, and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. 

Arnon Nampha, a human rights lawyer and member of Resistant Citizens group, said he joined the rally to insist that civilians not be sent to stand trial in martial courts.

Gen. Prayuth's decision to grant military courts jurisdiction over all cases that "affect national security" has been widely condemned by human rights groups. At least 140 civilians are currently facing trial in martial courts, where military officers sit as judges and appeals are not possible.  

Songtham Kaewpanpruk, a member of the New Democracy Movement who attended last night's rally, told reporters he believes the junta should listen to criticism from the people.

"We demand that Mrs. Rinda be granted bail. She's not a threat to any national security," said Songtham, who is facing a separate trial in military court for participating in a pro-democracy demonstration last month. "She's just a small woman. She has not done anything evil, like stage a coup." 

A representative of the protesters read a joint statement urging authorities to drop the charges against Rinda, and to "give justice to all political prisoners." The statement also demanded Gen. Prayuth step down from his position as Prime Minister to take responsibility for the deterioration of civil rights in Thailand under his military regime. 

Security officers observed the rally without interfering until the protesters dispersed peacefully from the scene at around 8 pm. 

Speaking to reporters today, government spokesperson Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd denied that Rinda was a "political prisoner."

"This matter is not about politics, even though some people try to fan the news that she is a [prisoner] in political case," said Maj.Gen. Sansern. "She is involved in criminal offense for defaming other people."

He said Gen. Prayuth is concerned that false allegations about government agencies or national figures could damage Thailand’s reputation abroad.

"Gen. Prayuth has insisted that things will only improve only if the country is stable and has earned confidence from inside and outside Thailand," Maj.Gen. Sansern said. "Everything is connected. Therefore, I ask every side to be more conscious about doing this sort of thing, because it will affect the confidence of people inside and outside the country." 

At a police press conference last week, Rinda said she posted the message after someone texted in to her through the chat application LINE, but insisted that she had no intention to damage the country.

"I think that, as a citizen, I have the rights to criticize and express my opinion, since the Prime Minister is a public figure," Rinda said. "But I concede that my words affect other people. So I'd like to warn other people who use social media to be careful, because this is a sensitive issue." 

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BANGKOK — The first week of the trial of two Burmese men accused of murdering British tourists on a Thai island last year has done little to shed light on a case that has been shrouded in mystery from the start.

Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 22, have been charged with murder, rape, and theft over the deaths of British travelers David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23. The tourists’ badly beaten bodies were found on Koh Tao’s Sairee beach in the early morning of 15 September 2014.

The gruesome murder shocked the idyllic resort island and captured the attention of the foreign press, who detailed police’s every stumble in a wayward investigation that ended with the arrest of Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo several weeks later. 

The suspects initially confessed after being interrogated by police without a professional interpreter or lawyer, but later declared their innocence and said they were tortured. They could face the death penalty if convicted.

Suspicions that the Burmese men were used as scapegoats to wrap up a case that was threatening to harm Thailand’s tourist industry were compounded last year by reports of locals refusing the speak to journalists, citing fears of “powerful families” on the 21 km² island.

Despite hopes that the first round of witness examinations last week would provide clarity on the murder, questions remain about what police have described as their “watertight” case, and rumors about a suspected cover-up continue to flourish.

'Used up evidence'

In response to the defense team’s repeated calls for access to forensic evidence that the prosecution said links Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo to the rape and murder, police revealed in court that swabs taken from semen found in Witheridge’s body are no longer available because they were “used up” in the original testing, which was conducted privately.

“For police to say they don’t have these materials completely undermines the credibility of their investigation,” said Andy Hall, a migrants' rights activist from the UK who is assisting the defendants.

The only evidence available for the re-examination approved by the Koh Samui court on Friday are the sharp garden hoe allegedly used in the murder, a shoe, sock, and bags from the scene. Last week, a partially blind Burmese beach cleaner told the court he spotted the garden hoe at the scene before police arrived, and returned the tool to its normal spot nearby. Upon police's request, he later retrieved the hoe, which he said he was unaware was covered in blood.

“The garden hoe yielded no DNA traces and no fingerprints, according to police,” said the defendants’ lawyer, Nakhon Chompuchat. “But we think there should be something left.”

The defense has requested the remaining evidence be re-tested by the Central Forensic Institute, an agency administered by the Ministry of Justice.

"We want an independent agency to retest [the evidence]," said Nakhon, the lawyer representing the accused. "Not the police, because the police are intent on sending the suspects to jail. And their method is neither consistent nor transparent. Only two people were present for the entire process: a police officer and a police doctor. There were no  photographs of the process, either. When we mentioned this in the court, they quipped that we have been watching too much CSI."

An officer at the police station that oversees Koh Tao said he was unable to comment because he has been strictly ordered by his superiors not to speak on the record while the trial is ongoing.

Hush-hush local coverage 

In addition to the “used up” evidence, suspicions about police’s case against the Burmese men have been fanned by a lack attention from the Thai press.

“I wonder if there's any attempt by Thai media to cover-up the trial, because there's been so little news reports about it,” Nakhon told Khaosod English.

Some foreign reporters commented on the lack of a Thai media presence at last week's court hearings, which Hall said was only attended by 2-3 Thai journalists, compared to 15-20 reporters from foreign news outlets.

“In the beginning of this case I had the Thai media calling me 24 hours a day,” said Hall. “[Since the trial] I have not had one Thai media language person contact me. Not one. I am shocked.”

Most of Thailand’s mainstream newspapers have provided scant coverage of the court hearings, solely relying on quotes provided by police officers.

Reporters have also been barred from taking notes during the trial, which has led to further confusion. According to Hall, court officials said they decided to prohibit note-taking in order to ensure that the media did not take and report “inaccurate” notes.

“The justification doesn’t make much sense to me,” he said, adding that the Thailand's criminal justice system is critically weakened by the lack of verbatim records of court proceedings.

Relatives of Miller and Witheridge flew back to the UK this weekend after attending the first court session, while the mothers’ of the two Burmese defendants are seeking to secure visas to attend the trial next week. 

The prosecution’s second round of witness examinations is scheduled to start on 22 July, with a verdict expected in October. 

Timeline of the Koh Tao murder investigation (click to expand)

CORRECTION: The beach cleaner who removed the garden hoe from the crime scene did not tell the court he also washed the tool, as was originally reported.

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