The Spanish lawyer of the Arrieta household, Juango Ospina, has despatched a letter to the Spanish ambassador in Thailand in which he reveals his discomfort at the presence of the vice-consul, Ignacio Vitorica Hamiltonin all periods of the trial against Daniel Sancho that’s being held in the Koh Samui courtroom and which resumes this Tuesday, in its fourth week, with the testimony of protection witnesses, together with Sancho himself.
“The Arrieta household considers that the presence of a Spanish diplomat at the trial, not being a direct or oblique member of the family of the events nor have any political relevance, might symbolize an implicit message to the Thai authorities and, subsequently, be interpreted as a approach to affect the judicial course of,” says the lawyer in that letter, to which he has had entry 20 minutes.
“I don’t discover causes of reality or regulation that help the presence of Mr. Vice Consul in all periods of the oral trial actTherefore, though his presence at the first trial session might have been comprehensible, his attendance in any respect of them shouldn’t be,” the textual content signifies.
“In my skilled expertise helping Spaniards detained and prosecuted in overseas nations, particularly, in Germany, Malta or France, by no means any Spanish diplomat or members of the respective diplomatic missions have attended the oral proceedings as spectators or worldwide observers,” Ospina emphasizes in the letter despatched to the ambassador in Bangkok, Felipe de la Morena Casado.
The textual content additionally emphasizes that the vice consul attends all periods of the oral trial accompanied by an interpreter “who apparently additionally belongs to the Spanish diplomatic mission in Thailand.” And in this regard, he asks the ambassador if the presence of the vice-consul “sitting on the bench along with Daniel Sancho’s household” It is due to “some official determination issued” by the Spanish embassy in Thailand. What’s extra, the lawyer asks “if the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is conscious of this circumstance” and if “it has approved this determination.”
Foreign Affairs says that it’s a regular mechanism
Sources from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs consulted by this implies acknowledge that the presence of Ignacio Vitónica Hamilton is due to his place inside the Embassy, since being the first secretary offers with consular issues. However, they deny that he has attended all the periods and that on any event one other official has attended.
Likewise, Spanish diplomatic sources affirm that that is the regular mechanism for instances overseas. in which a Spaniard faces the dying penalty. In this sense, they acknowledge that on different events the similar process has been adopted; in reference to the case of Artur Segarra, for whom the Thai justice system additionally requested the dying penalty.
Furthermore, from Foreign Affairs they level out that it is because “the combat against the dying penalty is a precedence for Spain in phrases of human rights.” However, they insist that they act as an “invisible observer” to guarantee the rights of any Spanish defendant and confirm that “your rights will not be violated” throughout the judicial course of.
