Army general among Thais convicted of human trafficking

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Associated Press


Kaweewit Kaewjinda, Associated Press

 Updated 11:10 am, Wednesday, July 19, 2017




BANGKOK (AP) — A Thai army general was one of dozens of people found guilty Wednesday in a major human trafficking trial that included 103 defendants accused of involvement in a modern-day slavery trade.

Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen was convicted of several offenses involving trafficking and taking bribes in the case involving migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh.

He had held a position with responsibility for keeping out and expelling migrants who entered Thailand illegally. Because he was a government official, any sentence he receives will be double that of an ordinary citizen who violated the same trafficking laws.


At least one other defendant considered a kingpin in the illegal trade, Pajjuban Aungkachotephan, was also found guilty. He was a prominent businessman and former politician in the southern province of Satun.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/crime/article/Thai-court-issuing-rulings-in-major-human-11298416.php

[bucolic_frolic]

1. A fish rots from the head down

Time and again the most privileged and most powerful are up to no good!

[VigilantG]

2. At least Thailand has better laws re: illegal

Activities committed by government officials, ie double that of an ordinary citizen...

[Judi Lynn]

3. Thailand convicts traffickers after 2015 mass graves discovery

Bodies were found in southern Songkhla province where authorities said hundreds of migrants had been held captive

Oliver Holmes in Bangkok
Wednesday 19 July 2017 06.10 EDT


A Thai judge has found dozens of people guilty, including senior army general, in the country’s largest ever human trafficking trial following the discovery two years ago of mass graves in a squalid jungle camp where hundreds of migrants had been brutally exploited.

Sentencing began on Wednesday morning for 102 people, including 21 government officials, and was still continuing 12 hours later. Most of the 62 found guilty so far were brought to trial on charges of forcible detention leading to death, trafficking, rape and belonging to organised transnational criminal networks.

Police opened the case after more than two dozen bodies were discovered in a shallow grave in southern Songkhla province in 2015. Authorities said the victims had been held captive by people-smugglers who kept migrants as hostages for ransom.

The case led to a crackdown on smuggling networks that brought people from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Thailand. But government action resulted in a secondary crisis in which smugglers, fearing arrest, abandoned boatloads of migrants. The UN refugee agency estimated hundreds died at sea, primarily as a result of starvation, dehydration and beatings by boat crews.

More:
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/jul/19/thailand-convicts-dozens-of-traffickers-after-mass-graves-discovery