Thailand carried out its first execution in nine years, putting to death a man who killed a teenager for his mobile phone, in a move that has drawn condemnation from rights groups.
Theerasak Longji, 26, was executed by injection on Monday after being convicted of aggravated murder for stabbing his 17-year-old victim 24 times to take his phone.
The brutal killing in 2012 drew widespread anger in Thai society and his conviction was upheld in the appeal and supreme courts.
Photo: Reuters
It was Thailand’s first execution since two drug-traffickers were put to death in August 2009, which came after a period of no executions since 2003, Amnesty International said yesterday in a statement that called the execution deplorable.
Theerasak was the seventh convict to be executed by injection since Thailand switched methods in 2003 from a firing squad.
Thailand has executed 326 people since 1930, the Department of Corrections said.
The department on Monday said that Theerasak was executed to be an example to those who think of committing serious crimes.
“Even though many countries have abolished the death sentence, there are still many other countries that still use it, such as the United States and China, who focus on the protection of society and citizens to not become victims of crimes over the priority of the human rights of those who had violated the law,” the statement said. “The Department of Corrections hopes that this execution will serve as a reminder to those who think of committing serious crimes or violating the law to stop and consider this sentence.”
Amnesty International said the execution was a major setback for the country.
“This is a deplorable violation of the right to life,” Amnesty International’s Thailand campaigner Katherine Gerson said. “Thailand is shockingly reneging on its own commitment to move towards abolition of the death penalty and the protection of the right to life, and is also putting itself out of step with the current global shift away from capital punishment.”
The International Federation of Human Rights also condemned the move in Thailand, calling it a “betrayal.”
It said the country would have achieved the status of “de facto abolitionist” had it not carried out any executions before Aug. 24 next year — 10 years after the last death sentences were carried out.
Figures provided to Amnesty by the Thai Ministry of Justice show that 510 people, including 94 women, were on death row at the end of last year.
Nearly 200 had exhausted all final appeals — like Theerasak.
More than half are believed to have been sentenced for drug-related offenses.
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