Department defends handling of case of Irish prisoner in Thai jail

The Department of Foreign Affairs has defended its handling of the case of an Irish prisoner who is serving 14 years in harsh conditions in a Thai jail.

Colin Martin, who has spent two years in leg-irons and has contracted TB while in prison, claims the Department has "done nothing in 4½ years and they continue to do nothing" to relieve his plight.

Martin (40) was jailed for the murder of a New Zealander in 1997, but maintains he is innocent of the crime.

He has spent the past two years looking for an appeal, so far unsuccessfully.

After The Irish Times wrote about his situation in January, he wrote to this newspaper with a series of complaints about the Department's handling of his case.

He claims Department officials failed to attend his court hearings, did nothing more than ask politely to have his leg-irons removed and refused him assistance for medical and dental treatment.

"Despite countless pleas for help, the embassy refused to come to any of my court hearings or even send a representative - not once in three years," he writes.

But the Department has rejected most of his criticism, saying he has taken "little account" of the advice offered by the Irish embassy in Malaysia or the British embassy in Thailand.

Ireland has no embassy in Thailand.

According to a spokesman, the resources available to the Department "preclude the possibility" of attendance by officials at "all" court hearings of Irish citizens.

However, the new Irish ambassador in Malaysia, Mr Dan Mulhall, will be in Bangkok shortly and plans to raise Mr Martin's case with the Thai foreign ministry, the spokesman added.

Martin, who was born in England but grew up in Co Monaghan, claims he was tortured by Thai police into signing a confession.

He has lost 25 kg in prison.

The Department acknowledges that conditions in Thai prisons are harsh by Western standards.

"Within these constraints the embassy has at all times endeavoured to ensure that Mr Martin is treated in accordance with Thai law relating to foreigners."