Jailed Briton
The Foreign Office is considering plans for a new clemency plea for a Briton who (1) _______________ (to spend) 14 years in a Thai prison on the strength of questionable police evidence. John Davies – Britain’s forgotten prisoner – (2) ____________ (to arrest) in 1990 on narcotics charges and (3) _______________ (to sentence) to death in 1994. The British government lodged a clemency plea but this resulted only in his death sentence (4) _____________ (to commute) to 25-year imprisonment. Davies, 62, from Blackpool, (5) _______________ (to live) in a cramped cell with 20 other prisoners at Bangkok’s Klong Prem men’s prison – the infamous “Bangkok Hilton”. He (6) _______________ (to suffer) from chronic asthma and (7) _______________ (to have) two strokes. He always (8) _______________ (to maintain) his innocence: for some years he has been eligible, in return for a confession, to transfer to a British prison and be free on parole within months, but he (9) _______________ (to refuse) to do so. Stephen Jakobi, director of the legal rights charity Fair Trials Abroad, said: “This is our oldest case. He could (10) ___________________ (to confess) years ago and (11) _______________ (to get) out.” In 2001, a change in policy allowed the government to seek pardons to its citizens on the grounds of miscarriage of justice. Robin Cook, then foreign secretary, wrote to his counterpart in Thailand and hopes (12) _______________ (to be) high that Davies (13) _______________ (to free). But Seri Beddhitthaia, a Thai lawyer, (14) _______________ (to work) for Davies said the first plea for a pardon only (15) _______________ (to reach) the interior minister who reduced the sentence but had no power to free him. The petition should (16) __________________ (to include) a formal request for it (17) _______________ (to pass) to the king’s secretary. “It is clear that Mr Davies’s pardon petition (18) ______________ (not to set) before the department of the king’s secretary,” Mr Beddhitthaia said. “This meant there (19) _______________ (to be) never any prospect of Mr Davies (20) _______________ (to release).” Lady Symons, Foreign Office minister, confirmed that a new clemency plea (21) _______________ (to consider), but denied that an administrative error (22) _______________ (to undermine) the first attempt. “We currently (23) _______________ (to consider) (24) _______________ (to support) Mr Davies’s second clemency plea and are in regular discussions with his lawyers in the UK,” she said. “Thai officials (25) _______________ (to assure) us that Mr Davies’s first pardon petition (26) _______________ (to follow (emphasized) the correct route and was seen by the king. (27) ________ we __________ (modal verb (emphasized)/decide) to support Mr Davies’s second plea, we will at the same time choose the most appropriate level of support.” Arrest On January 4th 1990, Davies (28) _______________ (to work) in Thailand and (29) _______________ (to arrange) to meet a Kuwaiti national at the head office of the Bangkok Bank to carry out a business transaction. As he left the bank he and two other men were arrested and charged with possession of heroin and of (30) _______________ (to attempt) to sell this to a police informer. The evidence against him consisted of the testimony of Thai police officers, supported by images taken from a security camera. In court, the prosecution argued that one image showed money for the payment for the heroin (31) _______________ (to withdraw) by an undercover policeman, and another the money (32) _______________ (to count) by Davies and one of the co-defendants. But there was no money visible in that image. As there were also inconsistencies in the police officer’s accounts of what took place, the trial judge ordered the entire video (33) _______________ (to produce) in court. The police refused to hand it over. (From ‘The Guardian’, abridged)
Role play. The charity Fair Trials Abroad is holding a discussion of Mr Davies’s case. You must decide what mistakes have been made by his lawyers and what must be done now to get him out of jail. Role 1. You are James Goodwin, the leader of the role play. Introduce the problem to be discussed and ask the participants to speak. Comment on the information they present. Role 2. You are Stephen Jakobi, director of the charity Fair Trials Abroad. You spoke to Davies’s Thai lawyer, Seri Beddhitthaia. Report your conversation with him and also say what you can do for your citizens after the 2001 change in policy mentioned in the article given above. Role 3. You are Sylvia Western, a charity worker. Not long ago you managed to speak to Lady Symons, Foreign Office minister, and to discuss Davies’s case with her. Report your conversation. Role 4. You are Detective Stilton. You’ve read the file on Davies’s case. Report the information you learned and comment on the performance of Thai police officers.
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