Editor:
PM Prayut's ordered the legal community and judiciary to ensure that convicted rapists are sentenced to death.
But, we are chronically unable to ensure that we can even clearly identify the guilty parties. Consider the recent high-profile murder/rape of the two British tourists on Koh Tao. There, the court;s guilty verdict relied heavily on DNA analysis by a police lab that hadn't been certified to carry out such analysis, thus making its report inadmissible in court -- and making the case a fiasco.Also, the defendants hadn't been previously informed of the counterpart of their Miranda Rights, so their “confessions” upon which the court relied were inadmissible, per Thai Criminal Code S134/4. Would PM Prayut kill those whose guilt hadn't been proven beyond reasonable doubt? Remember, capital punishment, once carried out, is irreversible.
Also, the worse a crime is, the harsher their punishment should be (to have proportionality). If we execute rapists, what will we do with murderers?
Lastly, rapists, knowing that they'd be executed if caught, would be sorely tempted to kill those they've raped, to lessen their chances of being identified. That would not be in society's interests.
We should think, and think again, before applying capital punishment.
Best,
Burin Kantabutra
Bangkok Post, (bold type added)
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