05 January 2016•Update: 05 January 2016
By Max Constant
BANGKOK
International hackers group Anonymous has hijacked at least 14 Thai police websites in a campaign to denounce what it called a “biased” verdict against two Myanmar migrant workers found guilty of murdering two British nationals.
Early Tuesday, the websites' home pages had been replaced by black screens carrying the emblematic Anonymous mask and the words “Failed Law. We want Justice! #BoycottThailand”.
In an online statement Sunday, Anonymous condemned the Dec. 24 death sentences given to Wai Pyo and Zaw Lin for the murder of Hannah Witheridge and David Miller in Sept. 2014.
“Information and evidence does not lead Anonymous into believing that police have the correct culprits for this crime,” said the statement.
The two Myanmar workers were arrested by Thai police on the island of Tao in Oct. 2014 and accused of the crime.
They initially confessed, but then recanted their confessions saying they had been tortured while under detention.
The Thai police investigation has been widely criticized for its lack of professionalism.
The crime scene was not sealed off, hindering the collection of evidence, and Pornthip Rojanasunan, director of the Forensic science institute, a government agency under the ministry of justice, testified during the trial that the collection of DNA samples was done incompletely.
Crucially, she reported that DNA collected on the alleged murder weapon, a hoe, also did not match the DNA of any of the two accused.
The two 22 years old were convicted Dec. 24 on the basis of a single page DNA analysis bearing handwritten alterations, provided by the police.
“In conclusion, Anonymous has seen so many flaws in this case, so many incompetent officials involved... We do not believe the two Burmese migrants are the actual culprits for this horrific case."
The sentencing of the two Myanmar nationals provoked uproar in neighboring Myanmar, where demonstrations took place near its border with Thailand and in front of the Thai embassy in Yangon.
As of 2 p.m. (07:00GMT) Tuesday – 16 hours after the hacking attacks -- some Thai police websites remained down.
Jompon Pitaksantiyothin, a cybercrime expert from the University of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, told Khaosod news website that the success of the attacks against the websites had badly affected the image of the military government.
“It showed that government websites that should be hard to attack were actually easy to take down,” he said.
It is the second time Anonymous has targeted Thai authorities.
Last October, the group launched attacks on government websites after the Thai military regime announced a plan to set up a “single internet gateway” to control the flow of online data into the country.
