Thailand | The prison that awaits Daniel Sancho, the Bangkok Hilton, a hell of torture, disease, hunger

The Thai court has read the verdict in the case of the murder of Colombian Edwin Arrieta at the hands of Daniel Sancho, son of Rodolfo Sancho.

As we were saying earlier this Thursday, the Thai court has sentenced Daniel Sancho to life imprisonment for murdering and dismembering Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta in Thailand.

The court found that there was premeditation and sentenced Sancho to one of the worst sentences, second only to the death penalty. He will also have to pay $119,000 in compensation to Arrieta’s family.

Daniel Sancho’s parents and lawyers were present at the reading of the verdict that condemns the Spaniard to spend the rest of his life in prison.

While waiting for the appeals from Sancho’s defence to be resolved, the prisoner will remain for around a month in the same centre where he has been for just over a year. Afterwards, it is expected that he will be transferred to another prison.

Torture, corruption and terrifying abuses by prison guards

The Big Tiger is the name given to the prison where Daniel Sancho could end up. It is one of the most dangerous penitentiary centres on the planet.

Various human rights organisations denounce that torture, corruption and terrifying abuses by guards are common in this Thai prison.

Prisoners who have managed to get out of there report that survival is complicated and that the violence is extreme, not only from other prisoners but from the guards. If Daniel is admitted there, even if he survives, he will suffer terrible physical and psychological consequences.

Sancho has spent the last few months in prison Koh Samui in the hospital module. It is a quiet place compared to other prisons in Thailand. But now, having been sentenced to life imprisonment and unless the appeals announced by the Spaniard’s defense succeed, it is almost certain that he will be transferred within a month or so to the prison of Brother Kwang, where the mortality rate is very high, especially for those who cannot afford to pay for better nutrition or other types of care such as medical care.

The center, with terrible living conditions for inmates, houses the most dangerous prisoners in Thailand including those awaiting appeals or petitions for clemency after being sentenced to death.

Inmates are subject to strict surveillance, with security cameras monitoring them 24 hours a day.

In Thai lumpen slang, Brother Kwang is known as the Bangkok Hilton, and also as The Big Tiger.

It is one of the most dangerous prisons on the planet.

More than 50 people per cell

Apart from the appalling sanitary conditions (contagious diseases are common and they barely receive medical attention) and security inside the prison, the jail is prepared to withstand a prison population of no more than 3,500 inmates But there are currently more than 8,000 inmates. That is why Daniel Sancho will have to share a cell with at least fifty other people.

To all the above we must add that Daniel Sancho will go hungry and eat very poorly if he enters there.

In addition to the lack of food (prisoners receive only one bowl of rice a day*), there is also the lack of hygiene.

There is also constant aggression between prisoners.

* Inmates typically get low quality rice plus some curry or soup. Inmates with money can buy better food from the canteen or even food from outside the prison. Visitors can also bring food. But the food provided by the prison is really low quality. Inmates with no money must work to get better food. Like prisons in the US, Thai prisoners can work at slave wages for cash to improve their conditions. — DPN

Source: sportsfinding.com, Chris Lawrence, August 29, 2024

_____________________________________________________________________

Twitter/X | Facebook | Telegram | Contact Us

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

China executes 11 members of gang who ran billion-dollar criminal empire in Myanmar

China has executed 11 members of the notorious Ming family criminal gang, who ran mafia-like scam centers in Myanmar and killed workers who tried to escape, Chinese state media reported on Thursday. The Ming family was one of the so-called 4 families of northern Myanmar — crime syndicates accused of running hundreds of compounds dealing in internet fraud, prostitution and drug production, and whose members held prominent positions in the local government and militia aligned with Myanmar’s ruling junta.

Florida | Man convicted of leaving girl to be eaten by gators avoids death penalty

After about 4 hours of deliberations, jurors on Friday recommended Harrel Braddy should be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock. A South Florida man who dropped off a 5-year-old child in the Everglades to be eaten alive by gators nearly 3 decades ago was given a second chance at life as jurors recommended he should spend the rest of his life behind bars instead of being sent to death row. After about four hours of deliberations, jurors on Friday recommended Harrel Braddy should be sentenced to life in prison for the 1998 killing of 5-year-old Quantisha Maycock.

Federal Judge Rules Out Death Penalty for Luigi Mangione in UnitedHealth CEO Killing

NEW YORK — A federal judge has dismissed two charges against Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, effectively removing the possibility of the death penalty in the high-profile case. U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett ruled Friday that the murder charge through use of a firearm — the only count that could have carried a capital sentence — was legally incompatible with the remaining interstate stalking charges against Mangione.

Georgia parole board suspends scheduled execution of Cobb County death row prisoner

The execution of a Georgia man scheduled for Wednesday has been suspended as the State Board of Pardons and Paroles considers a clemency application. Stacey Humphreys, 52, would have been the state's first execution in 2025. As of December 16, 2025, Georgia has carried out zero executions in 2025. The state last executed an inmate in January 2020, followed by a pause due to COVID-19. Executions resumed in 2024, but none have occurred this year until now. Humphreys had been sentenced to death for the 2003 killings of 33-year-old Cyndi Williams and 21-year-old Lori Brown, who were fatally shot at the real estate office where they worked.

California | Convicted killer Scott Peterson keeps swinging in court — but expert says he’s not going anywhere but his cell

More than two decades after Laci Peterson vanished from her Modesto, California, home, the murder case that captivated the nation continues to draw legal challenges, public debate and renewed attention. As the year comes to a close, Scott Peterson, convicted in 2004 of murdering his pregnant wife and their unborn son Conner, remains behind bars, serving life without the possibility of parole. His wife disappeared on Christmas Eve in 2002, and a few months later, the remains of Laci and Conner were found in the San Francisco Bay.

Death toll in Iran protests could exceed 30,000

In an exclusive report, the American magazine TIME cited two senior officials from the Iranian Ministry of Health, who stated that the scale of the crackdown against protesters on January 18 and 19 was so widespread that 18-wheeler trailers replaced ambulances. In its report, based on testimony from these two high-ranking officials, TIME revealed statistics that differ vastly from the official narrative of the Islamic Republic.

Oklahoma board recommends clemency for inmate set to be executed next week

A voting board in Oklahoma decided Wednesday to recommend clemency for Tremane Wood, a death row inmate who is scheduled to receive a lethal injection next week at the state penitentiary in McAlester. Wood, 46, faces execution for his conviction in the 2001 murder of Ronnie Wipf, a migrant farmworker, at an Oklahoma City hotel on New Year's Eve, court records show. The recommendation was decided in a 3-2 vote by the Oklahoma Pardon and Parole Board, consisting of five members appointed by either the governor or the state's top judicial official, according to CBS News affiliate KWTV. Oklahoma Gov. Kevin Sitt will consider the recommendation as he weighs whether to grant or deny Wood's clemency request, which would mean sparing him from execution and reducing his sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

The US reporter who has witnessed 14 executions: ‘People need to know what it looks like’

South Carolina-based journalist Jeffrey Collins observed back-to-back executions in 2025 after the state revived the death penalty following a 13-year pause Jeffrey Collins has watched 14 men draw their final breaths. Over 25 years at the Associated Press, the South Carolina-based journalist has repeatedly served as an observer inside the state’s execution chamber, watching from feet away as prison officials kill men who were sentenced to capital punishment. South Carolina has recently kept him unusually busy, with seven back-to-back executions in 14 months.

Florida's second execution of 2026 scheduled for February

Florida’s second execution of 2026, a man convicted of killing a grocery story owner, will take place in February. Gov. Ron DeSantis signed the death warrant Jan. 23 for Melvin Trotter, 65, to die by lethal injection Feb. 24. Florida's first execution will take place just a few weeks earlier when Ronald Palmer Heath is set to die Feb. 10. Trotter was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death in 1987 for strangling and stabbing Virgie Langford a year earlier in Palmetto.

China executes another four members of powerful Myanmar-based crime family

China has executed another four members of a powerful Myanmar-based crime family that oversaw 41 pig butchering scam* compounds across Southeast Asia. The executed individuals were members of the Bai family, a particularly powerful gang that ruled the Laukkai district and helped transform it into a hub for casinos, trafficking, scam compounds, and prostitution. China’s Supreme People’s Court approved the executions after 21 members were charged with homicide, kidnapping, extortion, operating a fraudulent casino, organizing illegal border crossings, and forced prostitution. The court said the Bai family made over $4 billion across its enterprise and killed six Chinese citizens.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog