Update
GEORGE NEWS - The parents of Ashley Oosthuizen (22), a young woman from George who is facing life imprisonment in a Thai jail, is asking the public not to pay any money into random crowdfunding websites allegedly created for their daughter.
“We cannot guarantee that the funds paid into these accounts will in actual fact be used to help Ashley in any way,” said her mother, Lynn Blignaut.
Together with Ashley’s father, André Oosthuizen, who currently lives in Cape Town, Blignaut is in the process of opening a trust fund where donations will be kept safely and used for legal and any other costs involved in their quest to return their daughter to South Africa.
Ashley, a former learner of Outeniqua High School in George, departed to Thailand in March 2018 shortly after she matriculated. At the age of 19, she worked as a teacher on the island Koh Samui where she met a 32-year-old American teacher who was employed at another school on the island. He soon became her boyfriend.
However, he allegedly had a very dark past and a history of serious crime. According to a statement sent to George Herald via Facebook by a person claiming to be the boyfriend (name withheld by George Herald), but using the Facebook name Triss Nepps, he admits to being a former international drug trafficker with a long criminal record stretching back to a charge of assault with a deadly weapon when he was only 11 years old.
He says after Oosthuizen was laid off by her school, he offered her a position as manager at a restaurant called Hot in the Biscuit where she created the name and designed the branding for the business.
Oosthuizen was arrested at the business on 8 October 2020 after she accepted a package from a delivery man on behalf of someone else. Within 10 minutes the police arrived and arrested her. Nepps says that unbeknown to her, the package contained 250g of MDMA (Ecstacy). In a statement by Nepps, he admits to using the business for regular drug deals.
Oosthuizen was initially handed down the death penalty or life imprisonment, but on sentencing the court decided on life imprisonment (25 years). Nepps left Thailand before Ashley’s arrest and is believed to be somewhere in the US after a stint in the Ukraine.
Crowdfunding website raises suspicion
Earlier this week George Herald became aware of the website www.freeashley.org. The website, containing Ashley’s entire story, is essentially a crowdfunding website allegedly created and launched by Nepps.
At the bottom of the website readers are encouraged to donate to Ashley’s legal fund that it claims is being set up and run by her father. But, says Oosthuizen, he wants nothing to do with the website and has asked Nepps to remove his name from it completely.
“Ashley’s mother is in the process of setting up a trust fund in which donations will be kept,” he said. More details about this will follow soon.
Visitation rights
The prison where Ashley is now held in the South of Thailand, only allows her online visitation (calls or video calls) from immediate family and relatives once a month for 10 minutes.
The immediate family member can only be joined by two relative members in the same house. Groups or third parties at other residences are forbidden to join the call.
Visits are only allowed on Wednesdays or Fridays.
She has been in jail since her arrest, with her only hope of freedom being her next appeal, which might only happen within the next 18 months.
However, many questions were raised regarding the process that followed Ashley's arrest and consequent conviction. The last time her parents were able to communicate with her, was in December 2021.
Embassy replies
In reply to a media enquiry George Herald sent to the South African embassy in Bangkok, Thailand, earlier this week, the embassy said that the enquiry has been forwarded to the relevant section for assistance.
A screenshot from the website freeashley.org.
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