Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva yesterday said Cambodian authorities had tried to contact Thailand to secure the release of the three men, a Cambodian, a Vietnamese and a Thai, arrested in Thailand on charges of alleged espionage. Somebody need to explain to Abbisit that consulate offices are there to help their nationals, guilty or innocent. When consular officials contacted a foreign government to offer consular assistance to their citizens, it is not an admission of guilt. By the same token, when 7 Thai citizens were arrested last year by the Cambodian border soldiers, Mr. Abhisit himself contacted PM Hun Sen to secure their release. Does it mean that Mr. Abhisit had admitted the guilt of those 7 Thais?
The Thai government insists that it has solid evidence to present to the international community concerning Cambodia's alleged spying along the border. Perhaps, it was a premeditated arrest and those three men haven't had their day in court yet and the Thai PM had already jumped to the conclusion by whipping up rhetoric about a guilty verdict. It makes it too suspicious that all the evidences Thailand claimed to have may be fabricated.
International Treaty, known as the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations (VCCR), which was first formed in Vienna on April 24, 1963 provides consular officials the right to access their citizens who are arrested by a foreign country. The obligations of consular notification and access apply to citizens in foreign countries in order to ensure that they are treated in a manner consistent with these instructions.
Therefore, it is particularly important that Thailand, and local Thai government officials in the Thailand in particular, to comply with these obligations with respect to foreign nationals in Thailand.
Note: ALL foreign nationals are entitled to consular notification and access, regardless of their status.
Therefore, the visits and the request for the release of Cambodian nationals from Thai custody is within the right of International Treaty and not an admission of guilt.
1 comment:
The Thai government certainly know a lot about spying....as it would used a drug addicts spies on national security issues....talk about throwing everythings at your opponent(including the kitchen sink).pathetic is a kind word for this Thai administration.
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