(MAE SOT, December 17, 2025)—On December 17, 2025, the Mae Sot Provincial Court of Appeal delivered a verdict effectively acquitting Sirachuch—a Myanmar national who spent 681 days imprisoned for the killing of Myanmar national Aung Ko Ko.
On November 14, 2024, Fortify Rights published a 44-page report entitled, Death at the Thai-Myanmar Border, documenting the involvement of Thai soldiers in the torture and killing of Aung Ko Ko, and exposing Aung Ko Ko’s innocence. In the report, Fortify Rights highlighted problems with the Thai police investigation into Aung Ko Ko’s death and the trial and conviction of a 24-year-old Myanmar national, Sirachuch, who goes by one name and was an eyewitness to the torture of Aung Ko Ko. Fortify Rights has monitored and provided support to Sirachuch throughout his case.
Fortify Rights’s investigation into the incident included several eyewitness testimonies describing how four Thai Army soldiers detained Aung Ko Ko on January 12, 2024 near the Thailand-Myanmar border in Mae Sot District, Tak Province and how three of those soldiers then tortured Aung Ko Ko, who later died from his injuries.
The acquittal of Sirachuch underscores the failure of Thai authorities to identify those truly responsible for Aung Ko Ko’s death, despite evidence pointing to three unidentified Thai soldiers in the fatal torture.
Fortify Rights continues to advocate for Thai authorities to ensure accountability for the torture and killing of Aung Ko Ko, including providing reparations to Aung Ko Ko’s family.