Anonymous Hacks Thai Police Websites To Protest British Tourists Murder Verdict

Hackers from the Anonymous group attacked over a dozen Thai police websites Tuesday to protest death sentences handed down to two Myanmar migrant workers in the 2014 murders of two British tourists. The group hacked at least 14 Thai police websites saying that the two workers were falsely accused of the crime.

The hacked websites included the Bangkok Metropolitan Police Bureau. The activist group also published email addresses of several Thai police officers calling on its members to hack them. Seven of the hacked websites were down Wednesday with two of them showing the text: “Failed Law. We want Justice. #BoycottThailand.”

Thai police confirmed the hack Tuesday saying the public websites did not contain confidential data, Al Jazeera reported. "They are not good enough to hack into our system and steal any of our data," police spokesman Dechnarong Suthicharnbancha said.

"I received an initial report that the hackers are from another country," Dechnarong reportedly said, adding that it was “possible” that the attack was in retaliation to the verdict in the Koh Tao island case. The police have launched an investigation into the hacking incident, he said.

In December 2015, migrant workers Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo were sentenced to death for the September 2014 rape and murder of 23-year-old Hannah Witheridge and the murder of 24-year-old David Miller on Koh Tao island in southern Thailand. The bodies of the British tourists were found battered on the island.

An investigation into the case sparked allegations of police incompetence, mishandling of evidence and DNA tests, and torture of the suspects. A judge had dismissed the torture allegations saying no evidence showed it occurred.

In a 37-minute video posted on Anonymous’ Facebook page, a masked member of the group questioned the competency of the Thai police and its handling of the case as well as other past incidents.

The Dec. 24 verdict had triggered protests outside the Thai embassy in Myanmar, with demonstrators demanding the release of the two workers. Zaw Htay, a senior official at the Myanmar president's office, said at the time the country would explore all legal and diplomatic means and "leave no stone unturned" to secure the release of the "two innocent men."