Daniel Sancho turns to Human Rights and spends New Year’s Eve in a cell where the walls close a little more every day

Daniel Sancho It is oblivious to the outside world, where the noise continues. Lawyers prepare new arguments, families grapple with their pain, and the clock ticks relentlessly. But the alleged murderer is sitting in a narrow, damp cell in Surat Thani, a prison that could appear in the pages of a dark novel. His days are long, the nights endless. Sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of the Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta has found a new thread to pull. A last resort: Human Rights. His defense has taken a desperate turn.

The initial deadline to file the appeal expired on November 29. But like a wobbly boxer refusing to fall, his legal team asked for an extension. And another. And now, a third. January 29, 2025 is the new deadline. They say the case is complex. They say that there are details that must be studied as if each one of them were the key to undoing an impossible knot. It is not just about discussing whether there was premeditation. Not just about questioning how Arrieta died. This resource talks about fundamental rights. Of serious failures that could change the course of everything. The defense’s first shot aims at the interpreter which he translated for Sancho during the trial. According to his lawyers, this man was not up to the task. The words that flow like a river in a courtroom were, they say, carried away by the current. Nothing was clear. Nothing was certain.

Then there is Sancho’s first Thai lawyer, Khun Anan. The defense accuses him of not fighting, of not raising his voice for his client. Of having let events rush like a storm without trying to stop it. In a case like this, every second counts. Each decision can make the difference between life and death, between freedom and life sentence.

There is something else. A dull noise that echoes in the bowels of the sentence. The defense claims that what was discussed during the trial does not coincide with what was written in the verdict. And that is no small thing. It is a shadow that hangs over the transparency of the entire process. Sancho confessed, yes. But now his defense says he did it because someone whispered promises in his ear. “Confess,” they say they told him. “You will return to Spain soon.” If that’s true, the words were sharper than a knife. But the Thai authorities deny everything. They swear that the trial was carried out according to the law.

Premeditation in the spotlight

The prosecution built its case as if it were carrying a lethal weapon. Premeditation. That word was the trigger that triggered the life sentence. But the defense wants to dismantle the weapon. They say it wasn’t a plan, that there was no calculation. That the death of Edwin Arrieta was the result of a fight. A spark in a room that ignited an uncontrollable fire. To prove it, they will bring new evidence, new testimonies. They want the court to see what they see: an accident, not a murder. But the prosecution does not back down. His version is clear: Daniel Sancho planned every move. And the blood on his hands cannot be erased with words. In Surat Thani, The days crumble like sand castles. The prison is overcrowded, diseases lurk, the air is heavy. Daniel Sancho is trapped in a place that seems designed to crush the human spirit. The possibility of a move to Spain is a beacon in the distance. A flickering lighthouse, faint and far away. There are bilateral treaties, yes, but experts say it could be almost a decade before anything comes to fruition.

Meanwhile, Edwin Arrieta’s family fights for his own version of justice. They don’t want the death penalty. they said at the beginning. But now they have changed their tune. They request that Sancho face that possibility, a move that some interpret as a strategy to guarantee financial compensation. The Thai judicial system is in no hurry. After all, time counts less in a place where sentences are usually forever. Once the appeal is filed, the regional court will review the case. And that process can take months, even years. If the appeal is rejected, it still remains before the Supreme Court of Thailand. But getting there is like crossing a desert without water. And there are no guarantees that at the end of the road there will be anything but silence.

The media war and public pressure: the Daniel Sancho case is a bonfire

In Spain, the Daniel Sancho case is a bonfire. It ignites debates, provokes headlines. In Thailand, too. But the narrative in both places is different. Sancho’s family has chosen silence, discretion. Not Arrieta’s. They talk, they demand. They want the surgeon’s name not to be lost in the noise of the case. The weight of public opinion is not less. Sometimes it tips the scales. Sometimes it hardens hearts. In this case, it is another battlefield. January 29, 2025 will mark the next chapter of this story. Sancho’s defense bets everything on this resource. It is not just a legal document. It’s a scream, a bang on the table. It is the last attempt to change the course of a life that now seems written in stone. But Thailand is not a place that gives in easily. Its judicial system is severe, inflexible. Life imprisonment is not just a sentence; It’s a statement. Meanwhile, Daniel Sancho waits. He waits in a cell where the air is heavy, the walls seem to close a little more each day. In your mind, there are surely questions. How did it get here? What will the end be like?