Bangkok: Two Myanmar migrant workers could face the death penalty if convicted this week of murdering a pair of British backpackers on a Thai island, in a grim case that stained the kingdom's reputation as a tourist haven.
Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun have pleaded not guilty to killing David Miller, 24, and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, on the diving paradise of Koh Tao in southern Thailand, with the defendants insisting they are scapegoats for a bungled inquiry.
The British pair were found bludgeoned to death on a beach on September 15, 2014 -- a grisly discovery that has troubled the country's vital tourism trade and raised questions over the Thai justice system.
Three judges on the nearby island of Koh Samui are expected to deliver their verdict on Christmas Eve (Thursday) after a trial that has dragged on for several months.
The court has heard harrowing testimony of the murders, while defence lawyers have accused the police of bungling their investigation and using the Myanmar pair as scapegoats.
Rights groups say low-paid migrant workers from neighbouring countries, including Myanmar, are often blamed for crimes in Thailand where the justice system is skewed towards those with money and influence.
Miller was struck by a single blow and left to drown in shallow surf while Witheridge had been raped and then brutally beaten to death with a garden hoe.
Prosecutors insist their case against the men is watertight.
Their case pivots on DNA found on Witheridge's body and around the crime scene as well as the discovery of Miller's mobile phone and sunglasses with one of the suspects.
But the defence has disputed the forensic evidence as flawed and accused the police of torturing their clients into signing confessions, which they later retracted.
"The prosecution case is marked by an absence of significant evidence needed to prove the guilt of the accused for the crimes they are charged with," the defence team said in a statement released ahead of the verdict.
AFP
