10 arrested over sharing content about alleged Koh Tao rape case

10 people are now reported to be in custody for sharing posts from a Facebook page claiming that a British 19 year old was drugged and raped on Koh Tao.

The 10 now in police custody have residence in Udon Thani, Bangkok, Nakhon Ratchasima, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Pattalung and Chiang Mai. The arrests followed the Court issuing an arrest warrant at the request of police.

According to lawyer Winyat Chartmontri the 10 Thais were arrested on Tuesday evening. He is also describing the charges against them as “premature”, claiming that police have yet to establish a motive.

“They expressed their opinion with sincere intentions. I don’t understand why police came up with this charge,” he said, according to Khaosod English.

That makes a total of 12 people now issued with arrest warrants after they allegedly shared posts from the Facebook page CSI LA, an investigative blog that has publishes reports about criminal activities around Thailand. Two others are currently being sought by police for their arrest.

The deputy tourist police chief Surachet Hakpan has already said that investigators couldn’t find any evidence to substantiate the claims of the UK 19 year old tourist. The administrator for the CSI LA page lives in the US.

The editor of the samuitimes.com website has also been issued with an arrest warrant but is believed to have lived outside of Thailand for four years.

In the article by Khaosod English, Winyat criticises the arrest warrants, saying “police could have first brought them in for questioning.”

Original story HERE.