Inquiry call in drug case

Press, 26 November 1982, Page 6

Inquiry call in drug case

PA Wellington Two Labour members of Parliament yesterday called for a full inquiry into a Thai drug-case involving two New Zealanders. The call comes after the arrest of a former Thai Cabinet Minister on a charge i of abuse of power in ordering the release of one of .the New i Zealanders, Mr Matthew Co- 1 sio, aged 25, of Auckland. I Mr Cosio was arrested in ’ 1 the northern Thailand resort 1 of Chiang Mai in 1979 after the Thai police had found < 262.3 grams (about 9oz) of ( heroin in his hotel room. i

His companion, Miss Andrea Resetar, aged 27, was arrested at the same time. In March last year, she was convicted and jailed;! for 33 years for heroin trafficking. She has made two unsuccessful appeals.. A. high-level inquiry was needed into the case and New Zealand involvement in it, said Labour’s deputy leader, Mr Lange, and the Auckland Central member of Parliament, Mr R. W. Prebble, yesterday. “There is disturbing evidence that not only was Mr Cosio freed because bf corruption, but Ms -Resetar, a

New Zealand citizen, has been made a scapegoat and has been given a 33-year sentence,” they said. “No satisfactory explanation has been given as to how Mr Cosio’s father obtained a letter from the National Drug Intelligence Bureau in New Zealand with confidential information regarding Ms Resetar, which appears to have been used in order to shift the blame on to her,” they said. “The evidence indicates that United States Government officials were probably involved, but there is a suspicion that New Zealand

officials may have played some role. Only an inquiry can lift this suspicion.” The Thai police have charged a former Minister'of the Interior, Prathuang Kiratibutr, aged 61, with abuse of power while in office for ordering the release of Mr Cosio. If convicted, he is liable to a jail term of up to seven years or a fine of up to 14,000 baht (SNZB39). Prathuang told the Thai Parliament in June last year that Mr Cosio was set free, because there was insufficient, evidence to convict him.