How are executions carried out in Thailand?

There are 20 days left until the sentence of Daniel Sancho for the murder and dismemberment of the Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta on August 2 in Thailand. The prosecution maintains that it was a premeditated crime by the son of Rodolfo Sancho and is calling for the maximum punishment for him: the death penalty. It is not usual to apply it to foreign prisoners, who are usually granted a life sentence, but it is also not completely out of the question. Amnesty International has been fighting for years to abolish this measure without success.

For years, the Thai authorities applied the death penalty by group shooting, but in 2003 they changed the method to lethal injection, considering it a “more humane measure” and causing “fewer accidents” than bullets. According to Amnesty International, there is no relationship between the extreme measure and a reduction in crime, so its application as a deterrent measure makes no sense and they consider it “a judicial homicide and a violation of the right to life.” The government, however, is firm: “Since the country is a democracy, the use of the death penalty is a reflection of general public opinion, which considers it a necessary measure to deter criminals and to protect the rights of victims and their families.”

Executions in Thailand resumed in 1995 after an eight-year moratorium. Between then and 2003, 50 people were executed by firing squad. In these cases, the prisoner was kept standing with his hands tied to a post and shot from behind a curtain. Those sentenced to death were notified three hours in advance of their execution, with no time to see their families for the last time. In adopting lethal injection technology, Thailand followed the example of the United States, which pioneered the use of this method of legal execution in 1977, and of China, Guatemala, the Philippines and Taiwan, where it began to be used in the 1990s. People to be executed by lethal injection are strapped to a stretcher and first injected with an anaesthetic, then injected with a syringe. Next, a paralyzing agent, and finally, potassium chloride, a substance that causes their hearts to stop.

Sancho’s entourage, hopeful

The Sancho case has been one of the most mediatic in recent years and has crossed borders. The Prosecutor’s Office maintains that Daniel premeditated the murder of Edwin Arrieta and prepared it thoroughly: proof of this would be the knives, bags and cleaning products that the son of the protagonist of the case Sea of ​​plastic purchased in a nearby store hours before the Colombian’s arrival. Daniel’s defense, however, claims that these items were acquired as part of the accused’s work, as he is a chef and shares his recipes on YouTube.

The version of the accused, which has been defended this year by the team of Spanish lawyers formed by Carmen Balfagon, Ramon Chippirras and Marcos Garcia Montesis that Edwin tried to sexually abuse him and, in the struggle, the surgeon fatally hit a toilet in the bathroom. Sancho Gracia’s grandson was shocked by what happened and his reaction, driven by fear, was to dismember him and gradually get rid of the body.

If the judge finally accepts this story and considers that the murder was accidental and not premeditated, Daniel’s sentence would be between 10 and 15 years in prison, with appeals this could be reduced to 7 or 8, according to experts. Otherwise, as we said, he could be sentenced to the death penalty or life imprisonment, around 50 years. As for the prison in which he will have to serve his sentence, it should be remembered that there is no extradition agreement between Spain and Thailand, but there is an international treaty (signed by both countries in 1983) that allows a prisoner to be asked to finish serving his prison sentence in his country of origin. Spanish lawyers are also already working on a diplomatic agreement that would not be subject to official deadlines, that is, to the obligation for Daniel to serve a third of his sentence in Thailand before extradition. If Edwin Arrieta’s family were to request Daniel’s extradition to Colombia, it would be Thailand, based on official bilateral agreements with both countries, that would decide Daniel’s final destination.