A 47-year old Danish man, Jesper Jensen, denied the allegations of theft in his first hearing in the Samut Prakan Provincial Court in Thailand on Monday, the 19 February 2024. Three months after the Dane’s arrest, his statement has now been recorded by the court of law. The Danish man was arrested on 18 November 2023 in Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport and is accused of stealing an expensive Celine handbag and five less expensive items in the bag.
The defendant entered the courtroom around 10 am, approximately an hour after plan, without his defense lawyer. He walked in, limping, and with a bent back as he gripped the chains around his ankles in order to keep them from chafing his skin. He is a tall man, with a shaved head and tattoos on both arms. The brown shorts and sand colored shirt were baggy around his body, and the number 12, printed in white on his back, indicated that he is a prisoner. He walked down to the wooden benches in the back, sitting next to a female prisoner with the number four.
No official statement
After some time the defense lawyer entered the courtroom. He hastily went up to the Dane, to get him to sign a statement, saying he denied the allegation and would defend himself in a court of law. The defense lawyer had not prepared an official statement of what the Dane claims had happened in the airport when he was arrested, on 18 November 2023. The lawyer said, he had not yet had the time to visit the Dane in prison.
The public prosecutor entered the court. He wanted to know why the Dane denied the allegation of theft. Because the defense lawyer had left, he came directly to the defendant and his interpreter, Gregers Moller.
According to the defendant, he had found an unsupervised bag at the airport on 18 November 2023. Allegedly he intended giving it back to the owner, but he was forced to go to the toilet first, because of an upset stomach. When he came out he saw some officials, which he thought were looking for the bag, and he returned some of the items, which he had gotten mixed up with his own luggage. He then went out to have a cigarette. The officials came out to him, and found the remaining items in his backpack, that was when he was arrested.
A new explanation
When the public prosecutor had heard the Danish man’s explanation, he left the room to examine the surveillance camera video, which was submitted as evidence. He came back and told the interpreter that it looked like the video supported the defendants claims that he had returned some of the items to the owner of the bag before he was apprehended by the police. The public prosecutor went up to the judge to tell her about this change.
The judge called the Dane up to her podium. Barefoot, with chains in hand, he limped up to the judge, the chains rattling with every step.
There were multiple cases going on at the same time in court that day. Lawyers with slicked back hair and black robes over their suits, stood lined up around the walls of the courtroom. Defendants and lawyers went up to the judges, than sat back down to wait and went back up again after some time.
While the judge was writing the Dane’s statement, his defense lawyer came back into the room and joined the hearing of his client. Eventually, all present signed the statement of the Dane as recorded by the judge and the hearing was over.
The police escorted the Danish prisoner out of the room to take him to the prison.
“I worry about never seeing my mother again. I just want to go home”, he said, his eyes becoming wet as he was taken down the stairs.
His next court date will be the 16 and 17 May 2024. This is close to half a year after the day he was arrested.
According to the Danish man, the Danish embassy has visited him one time in the three months he has been in prison. He claims the Danish priest, he had asked to see, has also not visited him yet.
