BANGKOK (Reuters) - Human Rights Watch on Friday urged Thai authorities to drop legal cases against 12 people arrested over Facebook posts they shared about a British tourist’s complaint that she had been raped on a holiday island.
Police arrested the 12 Thai Facebook users this week for violating a cyber-crime law, in connection with their posts about what police have deemed to be an untrue complaint of rape. Police had been investigating an accusation by a 19-year-old British tourist who said she had been raped while on holiday on the island of Koh Tao in June.
Thailand is sensitive about how it is perceived abroad, particularly because of any impact on tourism which is an important driver of the economy.
The British tourist, whose identity has not been revealed, reported to police in June that she was robbed on the island. But upon her return to Britain, she told police there that she had also been raped.
Media have reported that the woman said she was turned away by Thai police when she tried to report the rape. Police deny this and say their investigation determined her complaint of rape was not true.
“The 12 arrested shared information ... which affects Thailand’s image, because according to our investigation the incident alleged by the British tourist never took place,” Napah Senatip, deputy inspector of Koh Tao police, told Reuters.
Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala told Parliament today that the suspect in the rape of a lady doctor at the Anuradhapura teaching hospital has been identified as an army deserter and he will be apprehended shortly.
Police have arrested the suspect connected to the sexual assault on a female doctor at the Anuradhapura Teaching Hospital today morning in Galnewa.
The Dutch Public Prosecutor suspects two companies of paying bribes in the construction of hospitals in Sri Lanka, according to an investigation by FD, the Dutch financial newspaper.
The Government today tabled in the House the Report of the Commission to Inquiry into the Establishment and Maintenance of Unlawful Places of Detention and Torture Chambers in the Batalanda Housing Scheme.
The Minister of Power, Kumara Jayakody, stated that in the future, internationally funded projects, such as power projects, will only be carried out through government-to-government (G2G) agreements and competitive procurement.
Former President Ranil Wickremesinghe said today he wholly rejects the Batalanda Commission report and that it was appointed wholly with the intention slinging political mud at him.
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