Mushroom-picking couple's prison term reduced to 5 years

[mtls2005]

2 hours ago, Bill Miller said:

The back story:

KALASIN: -- The Supreme Court on Tuesday sentenced an elderly couple from Kalasin province to five years in prison for deforestation.

 

Udom and Deang Sirisorn were convicted of encroaching on 72 rai (12 hectares) of Dong Ranang national forest, where they engaged in deforestation.

 

They cut down more than 1,000 valuable trees and illegally possessed restricted timber.

 

The couple claimed they merely collected wild mushrooms in the forest.

 

In 2011, the Criminal Court sentenced them to 30 years in prison for the offences.

 

The Appeals Court subsequently reduced the sentences to 15 years.

 

 

Yes, that's the crux of the "story" from The Nation earlier this week, word-for-word.

 

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/news/breakingnews/30313998

 

What I think people are looking for is the photo of the couple pointing at the "more than 1,000 valuable trees" they cut down, and their stash of "restricted timber". Maybe from a  re-enactment of the original crime(s)?

 

If someone has reliable background articles, the original charges were lodged in 2010 so one assume there would be a long public record of their "crimes - please feel free to post links.

 

I've looked for articles but never really found anything concrete. Maybe this middle aged couple, one of whom is supposedly physically infirmed, was able to fell over a thousand trees, transport them (they have a motorbike), process them, store them, and then what? Not sell them?

 

I choose not to pass judgement without a bit more detail.

[Dagnabbit]

Yes, but were they part of the gang that cut the trees down ?
There was a gang that escaped , they were the ones who cut those tress down
Were the mushroom pickers part of that gang, or were they just gathering mushrooms and got caught up in it ?

If they were just mushroom pickers, why were they in posession of illegal wood?

Did they mistake the wood for mushrooms?


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