Juan Gonzalo Ospina could have looked for Daniel Sancho’s face, this Wednesday in Samui. The pro bono lawyer for Edwin Arrieta’s family entered the district court this morning as a witness, at the request of the two Thai lawyers whom he hired to act as prosecutor. An unusual situation, which the young Spanish-Colombian lawyer has justified as follows: “I am going to explain the economic situation in which the family (Arrieta) has been left and also the human aspect, because the parents have not been able to be told the whole truth. of what happened. They suffer from depression, anxiety and panic attacks.
At the judge’s request, Ospina will expand on the economic situation of the dismembered Colombian surgeon: “As spokesperson for the family, I will provide the tax returns, details of income and employees in his clinics in Colombia and Chile. Also a video of the ceremony with his ashes, at the request of the magistrate”. The remains found – parts as important as the thorax are missing – were buried last December in his hometown of Lorica, in Colombia.
Surprisingly for foreigners, the judge has placed great emphasis on requesting evidence of Edwin Arrieta’s level of education, something that establishes the social status of an individual in Thai society, however irrelevant it may be to the case.
According to Ospina, the parents’ conviction is that “Daniel Sancho wanted to end his son’s life in a preconceived way” and “they want justice to be done.” But at the same time, the lawyer specifies that they are seeking reparation, not revenge.
All of the above suggests that exploration of an economic settlement is underway. Although Ospina does not make it explicit, in practice it would be at least partly a return of money borrowed or invested by the victim in the business of her young friend. “I have many sources that indicate that the reason why Daniel Sanchó killed Edwin Arrieta was economic,” he told La Vanguardia again last night.
In fact, after the parade of nearly thirty key witnesses, Ospina sees corroborated the main lines of the police investigation, which would have greatly clarified what happened, how, where and when. The big question remains why Sancho attacked his friend and Colombian protector that night with fatal results. And secondly, why did he proceed to dismember it if, as he rectified, it was “an accident.”
Although the next statement is, precisely, that of Daniel Sancho, Ospina is skeptical: “I doubt he will clarify why he killed him,” he tells this correspondent. Juan Gonzalo Ospina returned to Thailand this week – although he had said that he would not do so – after several days in Spain with Arrieta’s sister, Darlin, and the family’s Colombian lawyer.
Although he enters the courtroom today as a witness, he trusts that the judge will allow him to attend the rest of this trial behind closed doors – like two weeks ago – at least to closely follow Daniel Sancho’s expected statement, finally postponed to tomorrow Thursday. Among other reasons, due to a blackout that affected the air conditioning – in the hottest week of the year – and forced a change of room, without major changes. So much so that one of the two prosecutors decided to leave the session before its conclusion. The question remains whether he did it because of the oppressive heat or the economic discussion into which the trial is leading.
It should be noted that the inmate Daniel Sancho was able to count on a Spanish translator yesterday afternoon, since the trial is taking place in Thai, naturally, with lawyers registered in Thailand.
After the accused Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, it will be the turn of the defense witnesses, starting with his father, the actor Rodolfo Sancho, son of Sancho Gracia, who immortalized the bandit Curro Jiménez. The father of the accused, this morning, while climbing the stairs of the court, stated that Ospina himself “acknowledged yesterday that there was a fight, a violent cause.” Then her mother, Silvia Bronchalo, would do it, without saying a word, as usual.
The Arrietas’ Spanish lawyer regrets “not having heard yet,” in the mouth of Daniel Sancho, “not a word of repentance, nor a request for forgiveness.” Something qualified by his Thai lawyer. “Daniel has expressed remorse to us for the death of his friend,” he said, “but we cannot ask for forgiveness in his name, it has to be him.”
According to Ospina, the long faces of those close to Sancho, yesterday afternoon after the long statement of the police officer who detained and interrogated him in the first instance, may be a product of fatigue, but also of the fact that the circle is closing.
Privately, however, Thai lawyers hired by Ospina express that there are some difficulties in conclusively proving premeditation and homicidal intent. After all, it was a crime behind closed doors in a bungalow on the neighboring island of Phangan, with Daniel Sancho as the only witness.
At noon, at the hasty end of the session, it was clear that Juan Gonzalo Ospina had missed the opportunity to face Daniel Sancho, a great fan of Thai wrestling. There was never, on his part, the slightest intention of knocking him out. As is evident from day one, it seems that all parties are working towards some type of compromise, in the face of irreparable events.
In this sense, Juan Gonzalo Ospina continues to demand, on behalf of the Arrieta Arteaga family, compensation of “410,000 euros” and criticizes that the Sanchos are not even willing to talk about it. “This refusal to compensate only increases the pain of the family I represent.”
