Daniel Sancho could have a new open front in Thailand if the country's authorities come to know and analyze the audios in which he talks with his mother, Silvia Bronchalo, about the alleged 100,000 euro operation to get out of prison. The issue is not only in the content of the conversation: the fact that these audios allegedly come from a communication maintained from prison could also lead to a penitentiary investigation.
This was explained by Ramón Campos, a journalist specialized in the case, after consulting sources from his judicial environment in Thailand. According to these sources, the court would not yet be aware of what happened. "They told me that they cannot believe what I am saying, that if this were to become a media wave and reach them, the consequences would be dire," Campos recounted.
Thailand does not want its judicial system questioned
One of the aspects that most concerns in this scenario is the possibility that the audios fuel the idea that judicial decisions can be bought in Thailand. Campos explained that the country's authorities are especially sensitive to any circumstance that could affect their institutional image. "The last thing they want is for society to think that it is a country where one can try to buy judicial sentences," the journalist pointed out. In this case, furthermore, the disseminated conversation contains references to an amount of 100,000 euros and an alleged formula to obtain bail through the acquisition of land.
This does not mean that there is a purchase of a sentence or that it has been proven that this operation was real. In fact, the Sancho family's own defense has pointed out that Daniel could have been deceived by people who would have proposed that possibility to him from prison. What could generate consequences in Thailand would be if the authorities decided to investigate the content of the audios and the circumstances in which the communication occurred.
From a delay in prison benefits to the suspension of communications
The possible problem for Sancho would not necessarily end in an investigation. According to Campos, the rules of Thailand's Penitentiary Institutions contemplate different measures for certain infractions committed within prison.
Among the consequences he has mentioned are a delay in the promotion of prison freedom, a demotion, or the suspension of visits and communications for a period that could reach three months. The application of one measure or another would depend on what the authorities determined if a procedure is finally opened.
Sancho is currently serving a life sentence in Surat Thani prison, after Thai justice confirmed his conviction for the premeditated murder of Edwin Arrieta. For now, there is no record of a procedure having been opened against him for these audios, so these possible sanctions should be understood only as the scenario that could arise if the authorities investigated the facts.
An investigation that could go beyond Daniel Sancho
The possible investigation would not necessarily have Sancho as the only affected party either. Two Yupa, an artist residing in Spain and close to becoming a lawyer in Thailand, has explained that the authorities could try to find out how a communication of these characteristics left the prison. “It is a strict rule, everything is very controlled,” she said when explaining the functioning of the Thai prison system. According to her explanation, communications made from prison are subject to specific control and could be considered the property of the penitentiary institution itself.
The specialist even points out that, if an investigation were initiated, the prison director could claim the material to determine its origin. The scope of responsibilities would then depend on what that eventual procedure concluded and who had obtained and disseminated the recording.
For the moment, Thailand has not confirmed the investigation into these audios. The possibility that the matter reaches the authorities is precisely the new unknown that opens up around Daniel Sancho, who remains in prison while his defense prepares the appeal before the Thai Supreme Court.