Nine questions with answers about the situation of Daniel Sancho in Thailand

The arrest in Thailand of the Spanish cook Daniel Sancho Bronchalo, son of the act Rodolfo Sancho, as the alleged perpetrator of the death and dismemberment of the Colombian plastic surgeon Edwin Arrieta in Koh Phangang, a small island in the south of the Asian country, has entered into a new phase after his imprisonment by court order. His possible collaboration in the investigation, the sentence that may be imposed if he is convicted and the agreement signed in 1987 between Madrid and Bangkok for “cooperation in the execution of criminal sentences” will mark the future of a complex and slow process in the that Sancho’s defense hopes that he concludes with his transfer so that he can serve the possible sentence in Spain. These are nine questions with answers to understand what can happen

What sentence can Sancho receive if he is found guilty? If justice considers it proven that the Spanish cook murdered the Colombian doctor, both the circumstances of the crime ―in this case, dismembering the body and making it difficult to locate it by throwing the parts in different places― as well as his collaboration with the investigations ―different information assures that he has confessed to the crime and is helping to locate the remains- may have a weight to aggravate, in the first case, or lessen, in the second, the sentence that would supposedly be imposed if he is found guilty. Thai legislation, especially severe, punishes murders and homicides with three types of penalties, depending precisely on those circumstances. The most serious is the death sentence, although it also contemplates life imprisonment or up to 20 years in prison.

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If he is sentenced to death, what are the chances of the maximum sentence being carried out? While it is not uncommon for Thai courts to impose the maximum sentence, in the vast majority of cases it is not executed and is commuted to life imprisonment. According to sources familiar with the judicial system of the Asian country, the death penalty is only applied in cases in which the victims are members of the security forces or senior government officials, and there are no recent cases in which the executed is a foreign citizen. Typically, King Maha Vajiralongkorn takes advantage of specific dates, such as his birthday, to apply this measure of grace. It happened in 2020 with another Spanish citizen, Artur Segarra, sentenced to death in 2017 for murdering and dismembering businessman David Bernat in Bangkok a year earlier. Of course, several years pass between the sentence being passed and the parole measure being adopted, time that, of course, the convicted person must spend in a Thai jail.

And if they give him a life sentence? If the sentence imposed is life imprisonment ―either because the death sentence has been commuted by the king or because it is included in the sentence after the Thai court positively assessed the collaboration of the defendant in the investigation―, this can continue to be an obstacle for the transfer to Spain of Sancho. Although the 1987 agreement between the two countries includes this possibility for those sentenced to this penalty in its article four, practice has shown that this punishment complicates the process and makes it advisable to change it to another in which “a specific date” is set. of completion. This is what happened with María Nieves García Alcaraz, a woman from Albacete who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Thailand in 2010 after the police found 3.1 kilos of crystal methamphetamine, a synthetic drug, in her luggage. García Alcaraz pleaded guilty to avoid capital punishment, contemplated by Thai law for certain cases of drug trafficking. However, she had to wait for the king of the Asian country to reduce her sentence to 25 years in order to complete the procedures for her transfer to Spain. She got it in 2019.

What help do Spanish inmates receive abroad? Once in a prison in another country, Spain provides assistance through the consulates. Diplomatic sources detail that in addition to giving them an amount that does not exceed 120 euros per month if their family cannot help them, the consulate staff visits them periodically to check their situation and facilitate contact with their relatives, in addition to guiding them about lawyers in the country who They can take their case, send them the medicines they need or attend the trials in case there are suspicions that there are no procedural guarantees. They also help them to apply for a transfer to serve their sentence in Spain, one of the aspirations of a large part of them, although not all of them succeed.

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How is the transfer of a Spanish prisoner abroad managed? There are two formulas. One is the one followed in the case that the Spanish citizen is imprisoned in an EU country. In this case, the process is agile, since, since 2014, it has been carried out without the intervention of the Ministry of Justice since it only needs the approval of the judge. The second is with third States and, in this case, it depends on the existence of a bilateral or multilateral agreement between the two affected countries. Spain has agreements with 34 countries, including Thailand, as well as with the 67 that are part of the Council of Europe. The agreement signed in 1987 governs the Asian country, whose eight articles set the conditions for these transfers. Thus, the agreement only vetoes the release of a prisoner when the country where the crime was committed considers that it has affected “internal or external security”, was directed against the “head of state or members of his family” or was related to the “smuggling of antiquities or treasures of the national artistic patrimony”. The procedures must be carried out through “diplomatic channels” and it must be taken into account that serving the sentence in prisons in the country of origin “could contribute to their social reintegration”. The cost of the transfer is borne by the authorities of the country of destination.

How long can it take for the two countries to agree on the transfer of a prisoner? Although the sentence occurs in a matter of months ―various sources suggest that in the case of Sancho it will be around a year, as happened with Segarra―, the process is slow, especially if there has to be a measure of grace from the king Thai to pave the way. The same sources indicate that, even with this, the terms are highly variable and can be between a minimum of five years from the arrest and a maximum of 10. When they are executed and they arrive in Spain, the first destination of Spanish prisoners is usually be the Soto del Real prison (Madrid), waiting to be referred to the prisons closest to his family nucleus.

Can your sentence be modified once in Spain? The bilateral agreement with Thailand expressly states that the execution of the sentence “will be carried out according to the laws and regulations of the receiving state”, in this case Spain. In fact, Spanish legislation contemplates that in the event that there is a disproportion (more than double) between the penalty imposed in the other country and that provided for in our legal system for similar acts – as occurred in the case of the Spanish Nieves García, sentenced Life imprisonment for a crime that in Spain is only punishable by eight years— will be reduced to the latter. In addition, Thailand reserves “the power to pardon the offender or commute the sentence.”

And, meanwhile, in what conditions will Sancho remain? Detained on a small island, with no prison facility, the Thai authorities have transferred him to a prison on the neighboring island of Samui. However, very possibly this prison will not be Sancho’s final destination, but a prison in Bangkok so that he can be more easily assisted by the Spanish consular authorities. Bang Kwang prison in the capital is, in fact, where the majority of foreign nationals with convictions or charges awaiting trial are held. British writer Sandra Gregory, who was sentenced to death for drug trafficking and later had 25 years in prison commuted, ironically christened the center the “Bangkok Hilton” in the book in which she narrated her time there. jail. Sources familiar with the conditions of this prison describe them as “very harsh.” “It is overcrowded, with many more prisoners than it can hold,” she points out before detailing that the inmates have to sleep on the floor in collective cells and that they go out to the patios for a short time each day. Food is also in short supply, although prison authorities allow relatives to bring food on their visits. The heat, the high humidity and the lack of knowledge of the Thai language are other difficulties for foreign prisoners.

Are there more Spanish prisoners in Thailand? According to data from the General Directorate of Spaniards Abroad and Consular Affairs, under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on August 1 there were 907 Spaniards detained abroad. Four of them were in Thailand, all of them in Bangkok, to which Sancho will now join. All men, two are incarcerated for a crime of murder, including Segarra. The third entered prison for robbery, while the fourth did not commit any crime in the Asian country, but the Bangkok authorities arrested him at the request of the Spanish justice to proceed with his extradition so that he can be tried in Spain. .

Image provided by the Thai police of some of the bags found with the remains of the Colombian Edwin Arrieta.Thailand PoliceDaniel Sancho, guarded by an agent, in a room with evidence envelopes in an image provided by the Koh Phangan island police. ROYAL THAI POLICE (EFE)Sancho and Arrieta ride a motorcycle through the streets of Koh Phangan in an image from a security camera provided by the Thai police.Thailand PolicePolice and forensic agents search a landfill in search of the remains of the Colombian Edwin Arrieta, presumably murdered by the Spanish Daniel Sancho. ROYAL THAI POLICE (EFE)