New Thai law no benefit to N.Z, prisoners

Press, 25 July 1984, Page 24

New Thai law no benefit to N.Z, prisoners

PA Auckland Two New Zealanders imprisoned in Thai jails will not benefit from a new Thai law allowing foreigners to complete sentences in their home country. A former Auckland man, Keith Rober Colly, is serving a 25-year sentence for possession of heroin for sale and attempting to export the drug in 1982. Michael Griffin was sentenced to two 25-year-terms in 1982 for heroinrelated offences. . A third New Zealander, Alan King, awaits trial on drug charges after being arrested earlier in Jiriy. The penal code amendment allowing international prisoner repatriation was passed by the Thai senate on July 20, but it does not apply to convicts who have served less than a third of their terms or who have been imprisoned for less than four years. Certain drug offences are also excluded. The two imprisoned New Zealanders will miss on these conditions and because there is no prisoner exchange agreement between the two countries.

The Justice Department’s senior legal adviser, Mr John Pike, said the new law was a hopeful sign but only the first step in many before New Zealanders could be returned to complete sentences here. Such a move would require a special treaty between New Zealand and Thailand, he said. There were also no laws in New Zealand allowing the authorities to jail someone for offences committed elsewhere. Mr Pike said New Zealand had had talks with only Canada and Australia over prisoner repatriation. Thailand’s Foreign Minister, Air Vice-Marshal Siddhi Savetsila, said in New Zealand earlier this year that the Thai Government was not reluctant to send foreign drug offenders back to their own countries. He said foreign prisoners in Thai jails were given special treatment, and royal pardons for drug offenders were common. In March, an Auckland woman, Andrea Resetar, was released by royal pardon from a 33-year sentence in Thailand for possession of heroin.