BANGKOK (Reuters) – Thailand denies abusing a jailed gambling tycoon fighting extradition to China over charges he ran illegal online gambling operations in Southeast Asia, the country’s justice minister said on Tuesday.
China-born She Zhijiang claims he received inhumane treatment” in a Thai prison, including violence that has left him unable to stand, according to a letter his lawyers sent to Interpol and seen by Reuters.
“Our conduct towards him is like others (inmate) with regular access to lawyers,” Thai Justice Minister Tawee Sodsong told reporters at Government House in Bangkok.
Tawee said that there are security cameras in place that would prevent any abuse or torture of inmates.
The minister did not comment on allegations by She’s lawyers in the letter to Interpol that Chinese embassy officials visited the tycoon in prison against his will to persuade him to return to China.
The gambling tycoon, who says the case against him is politically motivated, was arrested in Bangkok in 2022 on an international warrant and an Interpol red notice sought by Beijing. A Thai court in 2023 ordered his extradition to China but She is appealing the ruling.
Tawee said Cambodia had also asked for She to be extradited as he is a Cambodian citizen. Tawee said She’s extradition destination will be decided by the Appeal Court.
According to media reports, She is the chairman of Yatai International Holdings Group, which has made gaming investments in Cambodia, the Philippines and, most recently, developed a $15 billion casino, entertainment and tourism complex in Myanmar’s Karen State called Shwe Kokko.
China’s Foreign Ministry told Reuters in a statement on Sunday that She was a Chinese national and a “key figure in online gambling and telecom fraud crimes”, saying the evidence against him was “conclusive”.
Southeast Asia – especially border areas between Thailand, Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia – has become a hub for telecom and other online fraud since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to the United Nations, which says hundreds of thousands of people have been trafficked to work in scam centres.
(Reporting by Panu Wongcha-um; Editing by Michael Perry)
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