Rastada Manoo Rastada from Thai Bar Council and member of Thai Human Rights Commission told media that if the Myanmar government sent a request letter for a royal pardon, the death sentence awarded to two Myanmar nationals may be stayed and they could serve a suspended death sentence.

Thai Bar Council and Htoo Chit of FED which helped in the case jointly held press conference at Lotte Hotel in Yangon on September 23 in the morning.

Mr. Ratsada Manoo Ratsada from Thai Bar Council which represented the two accused in this murder said, “The clemency application must be submitted to his majesty the king within 60 days from the date of conviction so it must be submitted on or before October 28. We have already drafted this mercy plea for royal pardon.”

In the case, two Britons, one male and one female, were murdered on Koh Tao island in September 2014 and the two Myanmar nationals, Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun, were arrested and charged with illegal entry to Thailand, rape, theft and murder. The trial lasted over one year and Koh Samui district court sentenced them to death in December 2015.

The two Myanmar nationals initially confessed to the crime but they later retracted their confessions saying that they were forced to give them under torture.