Burma military chief questions court verdict on British backpacker murders

BURMA’S military chief has joined growing criticism of the death sentences given to two men for the double murder of British backpackers on a resort island.

Win Zaw Htun, Zaw Lin

THE head of Myanmar’s military has joined growing criticism against the death sentences handed down to two migrants for murdering a pair of British backpackers on a Thai island resort, calling on Thailand’s government to review the case.

Senior General Min Aung Hlaing’s comments came after the men were convicted of murdering two young British tourists, David Miller, 24, and Hannah Witheridge, 23, last year on Koh Tao, an island in the Gulf of Thailand known internationally as a top diving destination.

Thursday’s controversial verdict has sparked daily protests in Myanmar.

A protester displays a picture featuring Myanmar migrants Win Zaw Htun, right, and Zaw Lin during a demonstration against the Thai court's verdict sentencing them to death. Picture: Gemunu Amarasinghe

The army chief urged Thailand to “review the evidence” that led to the convictions of the two migrants, Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, both 22, who say Thai police tortured them into confessing.

The men were found guilty of killing Mr Miller, and Ms Witheridge, whose battered bodies were found on a Koh Tao beach on September 14, 2014.

Autopsies showed the pair, who met on the island while staying at the same hotel, had suffered severe head wounds and that Witheridge had been raped.

David Miller. Picture: Miller family

Hannah Witheridge. Picture: Witheridge family.

The general urged Thailand to “avoid a situation in which the innocent ... were wrongly punished,” according to the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar newspaper, which carried the statement on its front page on Sunday.

The brutality of the murders tarnished the image of Thailand’s tourism industry and raised questions about police competence and the Thai judicial system after the defence accused police of mishandling key evidence and using the two men as scapegoats.

Police deny any wrongdoing.

Since the verdict, protests have been held in Myanmar’s biggest city, Yangon — outside the Thai Embassy and at the famed Shwedagon Pagoda — and at the Myanmar-Thai border.

Sunday’s English-language Bangkok Post reported that Myanmar’s ambassador to Thailand also expressed objections to the verdict.

“Even though we do not wish to meddle with the justice system of Thailand, we would like to request the prime minister review and reconsider the case,” the Bangkok Post quoted the ambassador, Win Maung, as saying in a statement.

Human Rights Watch called the verdict “profoundly disturbing,” citing the defendants’ accusations of police torture that were never investigated and questionable DNA evidence linking them to the crime.

The general’s statement was part of a New Year’s message to his Thai counterparts, including Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, also a general and Thailand’s defence minister.

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