The provincial court of the Thai island of Samui, where the trial of Spaniard Daniel Sancho for the death and dismemberment of Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta began last week, has overshadowed the main tourist attractions of the second largest island in these first days of Thailand, known for its palm-fringed beaches, coconut trees and luxurious
resorts.
This gray judicial building, with a gabled roof and a wide staircase with 31 steps, has taken all the flashes of the thirty journalists who went to the place to cover the trial, who have remained on the street because the judge has decreed that it be held behind closed doors and has prohibited the dissemination of details about what happens inside the room.
The case, which in the previous eight months of investigation already aroused great media expectation, has begun to be judged “normally” and without any change in the parties' positions, according to the sources consulted. The differences in uses and customs have had a lot of weight in a judicial process subject to rules to which Spanish lawyers and media are not accustomed, especially in a case like this, in which the accused is the son of the actor Rodolfo Sancho. and grandson of another famous performer, the late Sancho Gracia, who became popular thanks to the character of Curro Jiménez.
Without looking directly at the judge
In the courtroom, for example, you cannot look directly at the president of the court or cross your legs, because it is considered a lack of respect or a challenge, according to legal sources. The person on trial is allowed to speak with his or her family and question witnesses, or for the prosecutor to exchange documentation and impressions with the lawyers during the hearing. “It is a super-hermetic trial,” these sources point out. The president of the court ordered the removal of cell phones and a search of the 20 or 25 people who were able to enter the room in the first days, and warned those present that nothing could be said about what was happening inside. Lawyers were warned of the legal consequences of breaking that secrecy.
The crime was committed last August on the nearby island of Phangan, 45 minutes from Samui. Daniel Sancho, 29, and Edwin Arrieta, 44, shared a hotel room on the eve of the famous full moon parties, in which Thai beaches are filled with people celebrating with music until dawn. Both the Prosecutor's Office and the country's Police accuse Sancho of premeditated murder, since they have recordings and testimonies that indicate that he bought knives, a saw and cleaning products before Arrieta's death. And that crime, premeditated murder, carries the death penalty in Thailand or, at best, life imprisonment. The defense maintains, on the contrary, that it was an accidental death, after a fight, and that the victim had threatened the accused and attempted to sexually assault him. Sancho does admit that, when Arrieta died, he dismembered the body and hid the remains.
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At the door of the court, a swarm of journalists, including several from Spanish media, have waited for some information in long days in which temperatures have reached 40 degrees. The interrogations have been extensive. “You can ask infinitely, each witness can spend an average of two hours,” say the same sources, who emphasize that the process is being very guaranteeful. There have also been problems with translations, since the official Spanish interpreter entered by videoconference from Bangkok. “Fifteen minutes of explanations in Thai were reduced to two in Spanish. Being sure of specific phrases is very complicated,” they add.
The courtroom is “like a chapel” presided over by two judges. The defense is located on the right side; On the left, the accusation, carried out by a prosecutor and his assistant, and the co-accusation, which represents the family of the deceased Edwin Arrieta.
Daniel Sancho took his place with shackles on his hands and feet. “He has short hair, but appears to be in good health,” say these sources, who are impressed by the thickness of the chains that the accused was dragging. Sancho came dressed in pants and a short-sleeved T-shirt in shades of brown, a color that identifies preventive prisoners in the Thai prison system. The condemned men dress in blue and both are mixed in the prisons, something that does not happen in Spain.
In the first three sessions, the witnesses proposed by the Prosecutor's Office have testified, such as the cashiers at the supermarket and hardware store where Sancho bought knives, a saw and a series of cleaning products, or a worker at the municipal landfill where they were found. the first remains of Edwin Arrieta.
The informative lock contrasts with the profile of the lawyers participating in the case, common in the media and on social networks. Everyone juggles so as not to anger the court by explaining their positions in the trial to journalists. “Many things have been said: that Daniel has had an arrogant posture, that he has rebuked witnesses in bad ways... That is not true. I think that with this I am not revealing anything that is substantial to what has happened in the room, but these things cannot be said," Carmen Balfagón, lawyer, criminologist and spokesperson for the parents of the children, protested vehemently this Friday on RTVE. Daniel Sancho. Sources from the Balfagón & Chippirrás firm have also denied that the president of the court told Sancho “many of us know what you used the knives for.”
The criminal lawyer Juan Gonzalo Ospina, who represents Edwin Arrrieta's family in Spain and has traveled to Samui to attend the first days of the trial, has also denied that he had been kicked out of the courtroom. “It was a lie, a misunderstanding (...). What has existed has been a strong closure on any information. It was a warning that in Thailand they maintain practically absolute secrecy about what happened in the room,” he explained in another intervention, on the same RTVE program, on Thursday. “I would like not to go into details because I want to return to our beloved country,” Ospina added.
On Tuesday, the first day of the trial, an HBO Max documentary was released in which Rodolfo Sancho tells for the first time how he experienced the trial and his fight to form “a powerful team” with which to help his son. The defense that the actor has put together - in which two Spanish law firms and a group of advisors in Thailand participate, as well as a public defender - has involved a significant financial outlay. Balfagón, his spokesperson, has acknowledged that the interview in the documentary was granted to cover the costly costs of the trial. The criminal lawyer Marcos García-Montes, who has participated in well-remembered cases representing the mother of Rocío Wanninkhof, murdered in Mijas (Málaga) in 1999, or defending Rafael
Rafi
Escobedo for the murder of the Marquises of Urquijo in 1980, also has planned to travel to Thailand at the end of the trial, to assist in the defense. “We trust Thai justice one thousand percent, not the Police,” García-Montes said last Monday.
After a break of several days, for the Buddhist new year, the sessions will resume next Wednesday, with the statement of the forensic experts who analyzed Arrieta's remains. Daniel Sancho's statement is scheduled for April 25, and the end of the hearing for May 3. Meanwhile, any details of a trial with a dismembered fatal victim and in which the accused faces a request for the death penalty are being followed with the utmost attention. “Here no one wins, here everyone loses,” summarized Silvia Bronchalo, mother of Daniel Sancho, at the door of the court.
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