CrimeThailand

“Greetings from Thailand”, escaped convict sends Belgian prison a postcard

PHOTO: Oualid Sekkaki, who escaped from Turnhout prison last month - HLN

“Greetings from Thailand”.

That was the message on the postcard sent to the directors of a Belgian prison. The sender? The management of Turnhout prison believe the greeting letter was from Oualid Sekkaki, who escaped last month. Sekkaki is one of five inmates who escaped from the Flemish prison in mid-December.

The letter was addressed to the three directors of the prison. In the envelope was his prison badge and a postcard with the words ‘Greetings from Thailand’. Sekkaki escaped from the Belgian prison with four other inmates on December 19, climbing over the prison wall then jumping into in a waiting getaway vehicle. Three of the men were recaptured in a nearby neighbourhood the following evening. A fourth, identified at the time as 38 year old Abderrahim Baghat, was captured by police in the Netherlands.

Monday’s postcard is the first sign of Sekkaki since his escape. Officers of the prison immediately informed police.

Oualid Sekkaki is the brother of the notorious “escape king” Ashraf Sekkaki, who also escaped from Turnhout prison in 2003, and Bruges prison ten years ago, in a hijacked helicopter. Ashraf is currently in prison in Morocco.

There is no indication if Sekkaki is actually in Thailand and Thai authorities haven’t confirmed if they’ve been contacted by Belgian police.

SOURCE: Chiang Rai Times

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Jack Burton

Jack Burton is an American writer, broadcaster, linguist and journalist who has lived in Asia since 1987. A native of the state of Georgia, he attended the The University of Georgia's Henry Grady School of Journalism, which hands out journalism's prestigious Peabody Awards. His works have appeared in The China Post, The South China Morning Post, The International Herald Tribune and many magazines throughout Asia and the world. He is fluent in Mandarin and has appeared on television and radio for decades in Taiwan, Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

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