What does it now depend on whether I pardon Daniel Sancho’s life sentence?

Daniel Sancho was sentenced this Thursday, August 29, to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder and dismemberment of surgeon Edwin Arrieta last summer. The son of Rodolfo Sancho and Silvia Bronchalo will be transferred to the Thai prison of Surat Thani, one of the most dangerous in the world, and although his legal team will do everything possible to ease his fate, he has one last card left: contact the King of Thailand to grant him his pardon.

King Maha Vajiralongkorn, better known as King Rama X, can, within his powers, pardon prisoners convicted in his countryAnd, curiously, he has a habit of doing it on his birthday, like Mohamed VI. As we reported this week, the chef would have to send a letter to the monarch and he would have to decide on July 28 what to do with the convicted man. In this case, Sancho Gracia’s grandson would therefore have to wait a year to find out if he receives consent.

It is not easy for the Thai king to grant his forgivenessHowever, if the chef takes this step, he must know that to achieve his goal he will have to strictly comply with what the sentence dictates, paying the compensation set at 100,000 euros to Edwin Arrieta’s family and having good behavior in prison.

This option arises at a time when the monarch’s wife is in our country, specifically in Mallorca. It was precisely the Balearic Islands that was the last place that the son of Rodolfo Sancho y Silvia Bronchalo before traveling to Thailand in the summer of 2023 for what may be the last trip of his life.

It’s the first time that Suthida from Thailandthe fourth wife of the monarch, is visiting Spain and by chance the consort of King Rama X is in our territory on the very day that Daniel Sancho’s sentence was announced. The consort is part of the Thai team that is taking part in the 52nd Super Series Sailing Week. The competition between super-rich super-sailboats is taking place from 27 August to 1 September.

Regardless of the power of influence that Suthilda of Thailand has over her husband, it is worth remembering that Daniel Sancho’s future depends, after the decision of the judge who tried him for the murder of Edwin Arrieta was known, on appeals to the provincial court of the place where the murder and subsequent dismemberment occurred and, later, to the Supreme Court of Thailand.

Experts consulted say that it is “almost impossible” for the first appeal (provincial instance) to prosper “because it must be resolved by the same judges who sentenced him” and they do not consider it likely that the Supreme Court will rectify. They argue Juango Ospina, Arrieta family lawyer said that in Thailand it is “absolutely exceptional” for the Supreme Court to rectify its decision. In addition, in that country “appeals are frowned upon” and that it can “worsen” the sentence instead of reducing it.