Daniel Sancho has remained preventively in the Koh Samui prison, in Thailand, for more than a month and awaiting a trial that could take place between the end of this year, 2023 and the beginning of 2024. The cook, son of actor Rodolfo Sancho is accused of murdering and dismembering Edwin Arrieta in the Asian country, something that could mean a life sentence or even the death penalty.
Although the case has become one of the most covered in recent times, the truth is that it would not be the first time that a Spaniard has received a sentence for these crimes in Thai territory. In 2016, a man named Artur Segarra dismembered another Spaniard, David Bernat, for which he was sentenced to capital punishment and reduced to life imprisonment after being pardoned by the king of Thailand.
TardeAR, Ana Rosa Quintana’s new program on Telecinco, has echoed her case in the section led by Manuel Marlasca. The investigative journalist revealed that Segarra had written a letter in which he recounts his day-to-day life in her prison, located in the country’s capital, Bangkok. “It is one of the worst prisons in the world, a prisoner’s worst nightmare,” said Marlasca.
“I get up at 3:30 in the morning to read the Bible; around 4:30 I wake up a couple of my colleagues. The cells are communes of about 20 to 24 prisoners. At 6:50 in the morning the doors open , and at 7, breakfast,” says the letter. After the raising of the flag, a shower and food, “16 or 17 hours without food, only water, sleeping on the floor with three blankets” according to the testimony of Artur Segarra.
The Spaniard considers that “Thai justice cannot be trusted”, according to his own experience. “I have suffered it firsthand; this is the third world. The sentences are either ridiculous or disproportionate. It all depends on the amount of money you have to pay the prosecutor, judges and police,” Segarra advises Daniel Sancho. Precisely in relation to the alleged crime committed by Rodolfo Sancho’s son, Artur has been emphatic.
“You have two options: fight the case, which will require an embassy official to be present during the trial days, to face the capital punishment, to review statements and evidence; the second option is to accept prior negotiation with the prosecution, a sentence of less than 30 years so that he can achieve the ‘excellent’ classification,” he says, finishing off by assuring that “they are going to try him in Surat Thani, where murderers, terrorists and traffickers are sentenced to capital punishment on a daily basis.”
