Daniel Sancho's defense accuses the Thai police of falsifying the testimony in which he pleaded guilty

The lawyers of Daniel Sancho, imprisoned in Thailand for the death and dismemberment of Colombian Edwin Arrieta at the beginning of August, denounced this Friday some alleged irregularities committed by the Thai police in the moments after the arrest. During a press conference called at the accused's defense office in Madrid, they explained that Sancho declared at all times that the death occurred accidentally, and that he acted in self-defense during a fight; but that the agents falsified the testimony and offered him deportation to Spain in exchange for him collaborating in the investigation. The defense has assured that the statements are recorded and that they are already working to denounce what they describe as a “scandal” unbecoming of a “normal country.”

The lawyers seek the annulment of the police actions based on this alleged malpractice and have shown “confidence” that the Thai Justice will agree with them. They also denounce that Sancho, 30 years old, was not offered an accusation in Spanish, his native language, resigning himself to speaking in English with a translator; the fact that Sancho was arrested and locked in a cell accused of being an illegal immigrant; or being forced to sign documents in Thai against his will and without having been provided with a lawyer or a translator into his language.

The spokesperson for the Sancho family, Carmen Balfagón, has assured that the police have “fabricated” a false testimony to incriminate him. “Daniel declares that there had been a fight, an attempted sexual assault and that, as a result of that fight, Arrieta died. Why do we know it? Because there are recordings that confirm this. “The police transcribe the opposite: that he had bought elements to dismember the victim,” she said.

The lawyer Marcos García-Montes has asked to put aside the media expectation raised by the case and has stated that all the accusations of murder against Daniel Sancho are “erroneous”, since in law one must speak with “certainty” and not with “ odds”. García-Montes affirms that we must support a person who, for the moment, is not guilty, and whose rights have been violated. “No one has the right to have a statement changed.”

Three months before the trial takes place, the defense has summoned the media to its office in the center of Madrid to announce that they have obtained access to some recordings with which they intend to prove that Sancho's testimony was manipulated. Thanks to these images, obtained from Thai television, they say, they have decided to take the investigation to court.

Police deception, according to García-Montes, goes further. According to him, the Thai police also manipulated the accused by offering him express deportation in exchange for his collaboration. As proof of the collusion between Sancho and the agents, the lawyers have shown a photo of the accused eating in a restaurant with several police officers who, according to them, were trying to gain his trust in exchange for his collaboration in the search for the remains of the body. of the deceased. “The entire investigation was too fast and full of exceptional things. It is not normal for the Thai police to take you to one of the best restaurants in the country,” they point out.

Knives for some cooking videos

Regarding the acquisition of knives and garbage bags by Sancho in the days before the event, the defense has denied any connection with the case, and attributes it to the defendant's intention to record a cooking program. “Daniel did not buy anything to kill anyone, he already said in his statement that he bought that material to make some cooking videos. There is no judicial proof that the knife was the cause of death, because it is still not known how it occurred,” says García-Montes.

The defense maintains that, although in the Asian country a premeditated murder can carry a life sentence or death penalty, the real facts correspond to a reckless homicide that should allow Sancho to return to Spain in three or four years. “We are facing events that could be considered an accident in Spain: they try to rape me, they bite me, I defend myself, the aggressor falls and death occurs. There is no criminal responsibility,” García-Montes has come to assure.

The trial against Sancho will take place from April 9 to May 3 in the provincial court of Samui, in southern Thailand, and will feature at least 57 witnesses from all parties involved. The Spaniard, 29, was arrested on August 5 on the neighboring island of Phangan. Thai police concluded in mid-August that the death of Colombian surgeon Arrieta was premeditated and that Spaniard Sancho stabbed and then dismembered him. The deputy director of the Thai Police, Surachate Hakparm, then announced the end of the crime investigation.

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