Leaked messages could've been 'anyone'

Update

GEORGE NEWS - "Anyone could have sent those messages." This is the response by Thai prisoner, Ashley Oosthuizen's (23) legal representative in South Africa, Lizelle Martin, following leaked confidential court documents circulated on social media.

These documents contain WhatsApp messages between two people, which Thai police allege were a conversation between Oosthuizen and her then boyfriend, Tristan Nettles.

The conversation mainly contains messages about delivery and dealing in drugs.

Oosthuizen, a former learner of Outeniqua High School, left for Thailand when she was 19. She was working there as a teacher when she met Nettles - a self-confessed dark web drug dealer with a history of criminal convictions.

She was however laid off due to a dispute about her qualifications and Nettles offered her a position at a restaurant, Hot in the Biscuit.

She was arrested on charges of international drug dealing when she accepted a package containing ecstasy from a delivery man on behalf of someone else at her place of work in October 2020. Oosthuizen is now facing life in prison in the Nakhon Si Thammarat Central Prison.

According to Oosthuizen, she was unaware of the contents of the package. In a statement by Nettles, he admits to using the business for regular drug deals without Oosthuizen's knowledge. Since her arrest, her family and friends have taken up the battle to bring Ashley home.

Wasn't me
In a statement regarding the screenshots of the WhatsApp messages that have now surfaced on social media and are alleged to have been sent between Oosthuizen and Nettles, Martin says that Oosthuizen had no translator and/or attorney present at the time of her arrest and subsequent interrogation. According to Martin, Oosthuizen testified in court that she did not have these conversations with Nettles.

"It is being put on record that the alleged evidence was prepared at the arresting stage and Oosthuizen only signed as the police ordered her to sign. She did not know or understand the content in Thai of the annexure, as there was no translator. Prior to her signing the documents, nobody informed her of her right to a translator either. This evidence is therefore inadmissible. Notwithstanding this fact, the prosecution cannot prove that Oosthuizen actually sent these messages as it was sent from the phone belonging to Hot in the Biscuit and she was not the only employee," Martin said in her statement.

According to her, none of the other employees were ever questioned either. "This so-called evidence cannot be ruled on until the prosecution can prove to the court who the conversation was between, as the alleged person is only referred to as 'Boo'. Whether or not the conversation is related to the distribution of the drugs and relating to this case or not, it does not constitute international drug trafficking of which Oosthuizen was found guilty."

Martin further states that the messages in question fail to prove the elements of international drug trafficking and do not pertain to the package that was delivered.

"Surely it is just common sense that if she knew that there were indeed drugs in that package she would've hidden it. She did not open the package as it was not addressed to her and she had no knowledge of the contents. Furthermore, no evidence was found at her apartment and her drug tests also came back negative," said Martin.

According to Martin, Oosthuizen is kept in a cell with 67 other women all sharing one bathroom. As the arrest report was in Thai, Oosthuizen could not read it.

"During her interrogation, Ashley was also afraid that she would be assaulted by the officers as the officers spoke loudly and intimidatingly to her. It is very well known that interrogations in some Thai police stations are synonymous with rape and violence. Therefore she signed the arrest report/search warrant without understanding it," said Martin.

Martin also calls upon the public to not make assumptions while they don't know the facts.

"Ashley's loved ones and myself will never stop fighting for her freedom. What if she was your daughter?"

Oosthuizen in Thailand with Nettles.