Mushroom-picking couple get leniency
A middle-aged couple appealing harsh punishment for picking mushrooms in a forest reserve had their sentences reduced by 10 years by the Supreme Court today (May 2), sanook.com reported.
Udom Sirisorn, 54-year-old, and his 51-year-old wife Daeng Sirisorn were handed down reduced sentences of five years by a court in the northeastern province of Kalasin, seven years after they were first convicted of illegal logging there.
In July, 2010, the couple went into Dong Radaeng Forest to collect wild mushrooms for cooking. They were arrested by police and sentenced to 30 years in prison, which was later reduced by half because they had confessed.
They first appealed in 2014 but a court upheld their original sentences, and the couple served 17 months in jail before being freed on bail. The plight of the elderly couple sparked an online campaign for their release, said sanook.com.
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Top: The elderly couple being taken to court today. Photo Thai News Agency
By Songpol Kaopatumtip
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