Edwin Arrieta’s parents suffer from depression, revealed his lawyer in trial against Daniel Sancho

The Spanish lawyer Juan Gonzalo Ospina testified on behalf of the family of Edwin Arrieta, in the trial against Daniel Sancho in Thailand for the alleged murder of the Colombian surgeon, to clarify the details of the request for compensation to the accused.

“Today we come as witnesses for the family to explain the economic situation in which they find themselves today after the loss of Edwin, who was the one who supported the entire economic reality of the family,” Ospina said at the doors of the court.

The Arrieta family’s lawyers in Thailand, Mettapon Suwancarern and Nattha ‘Lak’ Jongratwanin, confirmed the court’s request for compensation of 30 million bahts (about 760,000 euros) and provided documentation to justify that amount.

In this sense, the Spanish lawyer commented that he had been informed of “the clinics that (Edwin Arrieta) had in Colombia, in Chile, the people who were in his care, his studies, training, the situation in which the family has been left.” “.

Ospina, who testified in Spanish with the help of an interpreter in the courtroom for more than two hours, also presented “medical documents that prove that (the parents) are suffering from depression, anxiety, night nightmares, taking treatment to overcome (the death of his son)”, according to what he said upon leaving the hearing to reporters.

“All that suffering and deep pain that they are in after the events that occurred here on August 2, even to the point that The parents have not been able to be told the full reality of what happened because they are in deep depression and anxiety. (…) They can’t get over what happened,” he added.

The Spanish-Colombian lawyer explained to journalists that, despite the request of the Thai lawyers who are appearing in the trial as a co-accusation and which he described as a “maximum limit”, “the family is more than satisfied” with the amount of 410,000 euros that his office initially calculated.

Thai law does not establish maximum compensation as civil liability for crimes such as murder.

The request depends on the plaintiff’s assessment of the damage and is set depending on “the evidence and the judge’s decision,” which is the one who finally establishes it along with the sentence.

“Today’s procedure consisted of the claim for compensation, which is 30 million (bat). However, the actual amount will be subject to the discretion of the court based on its evaluation,” said Sancho’s lawyer. , Apirchat Srinual, who considered it unlikely that such high compensation would be awarded.

For his part, the father of the accused, Rodolfo Sancho, expressed in response to journalists at the end of the session that “of course not” any type of agreement has been reached on compensation, without specifying whether it is in reference to the amount. in itself or about what, since the decision rests with the magistrate.

The payment of the compensation decided by the judge in the event of a conviction is essential so that the accused can request his transfer to a Spanish prison, as long as it is not a death sentence.

The statement of the Spanish lawyer put an end to the witness phase of the prosecution, that they have declared in the Provincial Court of Samui (Southern Thailand) since the high-profile trial against Sancho began on April 9, which is being held behind closed doors.

The Thai legal team appointed by Edwin Arrieta’s family had requested that the victim’s parents, Ana Marcela Arteaga and Leovaldo José Arrieta, aged 78 and 75, respectively, testify by videoconference, something that was rejected by the judge.

As an alternative, it was considered in recent days that Darling Arrieta, Edwin’s sister, would travel to Thailand, but the need for a visa made the deadlines to obtain it an insurmountable obstacle to comply with what was requested by the court.

After this Wednesday’s day dedicated to the representative of the Arrieta family, who appears with two Thai lawyers as co-accusation, along with prosecutor Jeerawat Sawatdichai, the defense witnesses will be given way on Thursday.

The first to testify will be Daniel Sancho himself, followed by his father, the actor Rodolfo Sancho, and two police officers from Phangam Island, where the alleged crime was committed.