Public prosecutors have decided to indict two Myanmar workers before Koh Samui Provincial Court Thursday for the murders of two British tourists on Koh Tao in September.
The decision followed the prosecutors' review of the 900-page police report into the murder of David Miller, 24, and the rape-murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, on the Surat Thani island on Sept 15.
Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, both 21, re-enacted the rape and murders on the Koh Tao beach after their arrest in early October. (AP photo)
Thawatchai Saengjaew, chief of the Public Prosecution's Region 8 Office, said that authorities will indict Zaw Lin, 21, on five counts - the murder of Miller, the rape and murder of Witheridge, illegal entry into Thailand and staying in the country without permission.
Win Zaw Htun, 21, faces the same charges and an additional charge of stealing a mobile phone and sunglasses from Miller.
The indictments come after three months of controversy in which domestic and foreign media questioned the police investigation every step of the way, branding it unprofessional and inconclusive.
Human rights and lawyer groups, as well as labour activists, have condemned the arrest of the two Myanmar migrant workers, claiming the men are scapegoats.
Pressure from the media, rights groups and the Myanmar embassy prompted the regional public prosecutors' office to order police to look for additional evidence and re-investigate parts of the initial probe.
Win Zaw Htun and Zaw Lin, whom police earlier said had confessed to the murders, later retracted their confessions, saying they had been tortured by police into admitting the crimes.
They retracted their confessions after lawyers from the Lawyers Council of Thailand visited them on Oct 21.
The suspects allege that a Myanmar translator provided by police had kicked one of them in the chest repeatedly to force the confessions.
However, Mr Thawatchai said the authorities are confident because they have solid evidence including DNA, security camera footage and witness accounts to back the charges against the suspects.
The suspects will be asked in court if they will stand by their initial statements to police in which they confessed to the crimes, Mr Thawatchai said.
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) deputy commissioner testified to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) Wednesday that officers did not abuse or torture the two suspects.
Pol Maj Gen Suwat Jaengyodsuk, the case's chief investigator, appeared for the first time at a meeting of the NHRC's subcommittee on civil and political rights to deny the allegations.
The police had failed to show up on the four occasions they were summoned by the NHRC, which launched an investigation in early October.
The Myanmar suspects have been held in Koh Samui since they were charged with the murders.
Niran Pitakwatchara, chairman of the NHRC subcommittee, went before the media after the closed-door meeting with police, saying Pol Maj Gen Suwat had insisted that police had conducted the investigation, DNA tests and arrests by the book.
"Pol Maj Gen Suwat said there had been no torture at any time during the investigation process," Dr Niran said.
The MPB deputy commissioner had said many agencies were involved in the investigation, including the provincial, regional, tourism and marine police, and all of them had worked according to professional standards, said Dr Niran.
"Pol Maj Gen Suwat also insisted the translator did not assault the suspects," he said.
The NHRC's subcommittee would wrap up its investigation soon and forward its findings to the Royal Thai Police, Dr Niran said.
Thai police have faced severe criticism from the first day of the investigation, when they were accused of allowing people to trample on the crime scene.
They were also accused of mishandling the probe by moving quickly from one suspect to another - including friends of the victims and the son of a local bar owner - and then abandoning their lines of inquiry soon after.
Zaw Lin (right) and Wai Phyo in a prison bus on the way to Koh Samui court on Tuesday to have their detention extended. The two Myanmar workers were indicted on Wednesday of the murder of two British tourists. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)
Earlier report SURAT THANI - Two Myanmar men suspected of murdering two British backpackers on Koh Tao in September were indicted on Wednesday on five charges after prosecutors spent about two months looking into the case filed by police.
A team of public prosecutors spent almost three hours in a meeting at the Public Prosecution Office Region 8 in this province looking at more than 1,000 pages of evidence before deciding to indict Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, who have been detained at the Koh Samui prison since Oct 4.
Chief prosecutor Thawatchai Siangjaew said the indictment was for five charges - illegally entering Thailand, illegally staying in the country, murdering David Miller, raping Hannah Witheridge and murdering her. Zaw Lin was also indicted for robbing Miller, he added.
Koh Samui prosecutor Paiboon Achawananthakul has been assigned to forward the case to the Koh Samui court on Thursday.
Mr Thawatchai said the office will request a quick trial as the case is being closely watched by locals and people in other countries.
The letter written by Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo calling for help is released to the press on Tuesday.
Prosecutors took about two months to reach the indictment decision as they had to wait for more evidence from police after they handed over the case to them. Mr Thawatchai was tightlipped on the additional evidence which took police about a month to submit.
''All evidence submitted by police to the prosecutors has been verified and is completely relevant in [the decision] to take legal action against the suspects, although they could deny it in court,'' Mr Thawatchai said.
The two Britons were killed at Sairee beach on the resort island on Sept 15. After chasing leads for about two weeks, police arrested Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo, both 21, on Koh Tao.
Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo initially confessed to the charges but later retracted the admissions, claiming they were tortured and threatened with death if they did not confess.
But Mr Thawatchai said prosecutors will argue against their claim in court. ''Our filing finds no evidence and physical evidence to support that they were physically abused by authorities during interrogation. It is the right of the suspects and their lawyers to call for witnesses and evidence in the court fight,'' he said.
Prosecutors were relying on witnesses, forensic evidence, CCTV footage and physical evidence to indict the two suspects.
The decision came only one day after the court on Samui island approved the sixth detention order for them for 12 more days.
Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo released an open letter handwritten in the Myanmar language on Tuesday appealing for new witnesses or anyone with evidence not yet seen to come forward and share the information with their lawyers.
"This will really assist us in our defence and ensure justice is done for us, our family and the family of the victims," they wrote. "Please don't be scared to assist us at our time of need."