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Suspect denies plot to murder 13 sailors
Source: Xinhua |
September 21, 2012, Friday
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Print Edition
THE principal suspect in the killing of 13 Chinese sailors on the Mekong River last October denied plotting the attack when he and five other people went on trial in southwest China yesterday.
However, his fellow defendants all testified that he was the gang?s ringleader who masterminded the attack.
But Naw Kham told the Intermediate People?s Court in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, that he neither planned nor conducted the deadly attack on October 5.
The head of an armed drug gang from Myanmar had confessed to the murders in an interview with media before the trial, but he withdrew that in court, saying he had not been fully informed about the attack by gang members.
"I did not know about it at that time," he said.
"They did not tell me. I was only informed afterward."
Naw Kham admitted he was the gang's leader, saying every member called him "the boss." He was also known as the "Godfather" for running one of the most notorious armed drug rings on a section of the Mekong River near the borders of China, Myanmar and Laos borders.
The six defendants - five from Myanmar, Thailand and Laos and one stateless ? have been charged with murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping and ship hijacking.
The trial is expected to last three days.
Prosecutors allege that between the end of September and the beginning of October in 2011, Naw Kham and his subordinates, with the support of a small number of Thai soldiers, planned to hijack Chinese cargo ships and kill the sailors on board.
Naw Kham is said to have told police previously of anger over Chinese vessels' refusal to pay "protection fees" while navigating the river.
The Chinese vessels were also said to have been hired by Myanmar soldiers to help raid Naw Kham's gang, prompting a revenge attack.
Prosecutors said that under the gang leader's instructions, five of his men attacked, hijacked and took control of the crew on two cargo ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, and planted drugs on the vessels on October 5, near a port in Thailand on the Mekong River.
The gang was busted earlier this year in a joint operation by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
Naw Kham was flown to China in May.
The Mekong, known in China as the Lancang River, is one of the most important waterways in Southeast Asia, linking China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
However, his fellow defendants all testified that he was the gang?s ringleader who masterminded the attack.
But Naw Kham told the Intermediate People?s Court in Kunming, capital of Yunnan Province, that he neither planned nor conducted the deadly attack on October 5.
The head of an armed drug gang from Myanmar had confessed to the murders in an interview with media before the trial, but he withdrew that in court, saying he had not been fully informed about the attack by gang members.
"I did not know about it at that time," he said.
"They did not tell me. I was only informed afterward."
Naw Kham admitted he was the gang's leader, saying every member called him "the boss." He was also known as the "Godfather" for running one of the most notorious armed drug rings on a section of the Mekong River near the borders of China, Myanmar and Laos borders.
The six defendants - five from Myanmar, Thailand and Laos and one stateless ? have been charged with murder, drug trafficking, kidnapping and ship hijacking.
The trial is expected to last three days.
Prosecutors allege that between the end of September and the beginning of October in 2011, Naw Kham and his subordinates, with the support of a small number of Thai soldiers, planned to hijack Chinese cargo ships and kill the sailors on board.
Naw Kham is said to have told police previously of anger over Chinese vessels' refusal to pay "protection fees" while navigating the river.
The Chinese vessels were also said to have been hired by Myanmar soldiers to help raid Naw Kham's gang, prompting a revenge attack.
Prosecutors said that under the gang leader's instructions, five of his men attacked, hijacked and took control of the crew on two cargo ships, the Hua Ping and Yu Xing 8, and planted drugs on the vessels on October 5, near a port in Thailand on the Mekong River.
The gang was busted earlier this year in a joint operation by police from China, Laos, Myanmar and Thailand.
Naw Kham was flown to China in May.
The Mekong, known in China as the Lancang River, is one of the most important waterways in Southeast Asia, linking China, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam.
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