Marcos Garcia-Monteslegal representative of Daniel Sanchoappeared live Let’s see (Telecinco), shortly after learning of the life sentence to which a Thai court sentenced the actor’s son Rodolfo Sancho. The lawyer insisted that he would file several appeals and that “Thailand is a country that respects human rights.” The space presenter, Patricia Pardoasked the lawyer if he really believed his defense strategy was the right one: “We can all make mistakes but the line is drawn and the argument is very good and the evidence is well presented at trial. “We have a very clear conscience.” Furthermore, Marcos García-Montes insisted that: “The sentence is based on the opinions of the president. We have full confidence in the Thai justice system, but we will continue our appeal. We continue to believe that there was no premeditation and that is why we have appealed. “This is a valid legal opinion that is not based on speculation.” The lawyer also wanted to clarify that ““Daniel and Rodolfo have complete confidence in my legal team.”
The Spanish Daniel Sancho was sentenced to life imprisonment for the premeditated murder of the Colombian surgeon Edwin Arrieta and two other crimes he is accused of, according to the sentence read this morning by the Thai judge. Sancho initially confessed to the crime to police, but later claimed during the trial that Arrieta’s death was the result of an accident during a fight. The judge found Sancho guilty of the victim’s death and dismemberment.
Garcia-Montes in ‘Let’s See’
Shortly after the sentence was announced, the program Let’s see (Telecinco) was able to speak with Marco García-Montes, the Spanish prisoner’s lawyer, who said: “First of all, we do not know the sentence, which will be handed down to us in seven or eight days. We know what was read thanks to the interpreter, our advisor and our colleague on duty who did very well. The first thing I want to say is that human rights are respected in Thailand because the country has signed the Declaration of Human Rights with Spain and the European Union. Therefore, everyone has the right to a defence and to appeals. Today, the President of the Court said that the elements of defence and evidence were magnificently exercised. We have a very clear conscience. The President of the Court himself told Daniel: You are not convicted, you are in preventive detention and you have the right to appeal. The sentence is based on the president’s views. “We have full confidence in the Thai judiciary, but we will continue our appeal.”
When the journalist from the program who accompanied García-Montes to Thailand reminded him of some of his statements from a few days earlier in which he assured that Sancho would only be sentenced to a maximum of eight years in prison, the lawyer replied: “We continue to believe that there was no premeditation and that is why we are filing an appeal. “This is a valid legal opinion that is not based on speculation.” The lawyer recalled an old case in which a person was convicted of terrorism at Guantanamo and acquitted by the Supreme Court.
“We can all make mistakes”
“We defended wonderfully well and we were recognized. We can all make mistakes but the line is drawn and the argument is very good and the evidence is well presented at trial. We have drawn conclusions and the prosecutor has not drawn conclusions. This will be a ground for appeal,” the lawyer continued.
Patricia Pardo, from the filming of Let’s seewanted to interview García-Montes and told him: “We understand that you are very proud of your work and your defense, in fact, we have always taken into account that this case was very complicated given that there was a confession and a reconstruction of the facts. I understand that you say, Marcos, that the strategy was the right one, but when we see that this strategy is based on the tarnishing and distortion of this confession and today we know that it was precisely this confession that saved his life (he was not sentenced to death because, according to the judge, Sancho had collaborated at the beginning of the investigation), This leads me to ask you if you would not have acted differently.”.
The lawyer replied: “We have always maintained a very clear line of defense which is the Declaration of Human Rights. Thailand understands that and I have the right to challenge the evidence. This challenge of the evidence in Spain would have succeeded and we understand that it can succeed before the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. We have made an absolutely honest defense. nobody is perfect and now it will be the Court of Appeal that decides whether our appeal is successful or not.
Patricia Pardo: “Do you really think the strategy was good?”
Pardo reminded him that there were up to three Thai lawyers who recommended following another strategy: “They even told you that there, in Thailand, it was unwise to follow that path due to technical failures that, perhaps, here, in Spain, would have been the most advisable.” Do you really think, today, that defending Daniel Sancho with this strategy was the best?
García-Montes continued his speech: “But Patricia, Nobody recommended it to me. What I can tell you is that a Thai lawyer is not doing a service if he says that Thai law goes against human rights. I believe in Thai justice. What the lawyer should have done is a strategy that no one has proposed. The advice is given to me by the law, it is given to me by studying Thai law. The rest is opinions and I do not work because of opinions.
“I’m sure Thai prisons are normal prisons”
Patricia Pardo counterattacked by saying: “I don’t know if the human rights you are talking about will be respected in this prison where Daniel Sancho is going to be transferred.” Given this, the lawyer said: “I am sure that these are normal prisons. The one in Midnight Express These are things from the movies. We will wait and see if that is the case. It does not matter whether he is in a prison here or in another half-hour boat ride. What is important is that we must concentrate on what we have; in a sentence that we will study in eight or ten days and in the appeals.
García-Montes denied that he would ask for Daniel Sancho’s parole until the sentence is final. “It’s absurd. “The president told Daniel Sancho today that he had the right to ask for parole, just as he said that we had made a magnificent defense.”
Pardo asked him about Sancho’s parents and the legal representative replied: “They are devastated but have confidence in the legal team and in the appeal.” Of course, he stressed that: “I always talk about Rodolfo.”
Marco García-Montes, after Daniel Sancho’s life sentence: “We will appeal.” His parents are devastated.
– Let’s see (@vamosavert5) August 29, 2024
And finally, García-Montes said: “We are honest and hard-working people. A member of ETA and a bad guy have the right to a defense. What is needed is that the trust with the lawyer is total and Rodolfo and Daniel have it fully in the whole team. “I will always show my face because I have a very clear conscience because we have worked many hours.”
