Murder suspects caught after fleeing back to China

Three Chinese men suspected of kidnapping and killing a Chinese woman in Thailand and then returning to China have been detained in Wenzhou, a city in Zhejiang province, local police said on Wednesday.

The Wenzhou Public Security Bureau announced the detention via its official account on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like platform, on Wednesday afternoon, adding that the case is under investigation.

In a statement posted by the bureau, the police said that they received a report from a local family on Friday claiming that their 20-year-old daughter, surnamed Jin, had been kidnapped in Thailand, and that the kidnappers wanted a ransom of 500,000 yuan ($72,700).

The bureau filed a case and began its investigation after the report. By cooperating with Thai police, it learned that the hostage had been killed and that the three Chinese men had flown back to China from Thailand, according to the statement.

It said that the three suspects were captured in Xiangyang, Hubei province, on Monday through the combined efforts of the Ministry of Public Security and police in Hebei province.

All the suspects are natives of Xingtai in Hebei, the bureau said, revealing that the oldest is 24 and the other two are both 22.

China's embassy in Thailand responded on Tuesday that it has paid close attention to the case since receiving the report about it from Thai police. In addition to providing information about the incident to the victim's family members and providing them with assistance, it added that it would also urge Thai police to try their best to help solve the case.

Though the crime occurred in another country, it's unlikely that China will extradite the suspects and will instead try their cases here, legal experts said.

Liu Chang, a lawyer from Beijing Zhongwen Law Firm, cited the Chinese Criminal Law as saying that Chinese police have the right to handle the case because even though it happened in Thailand, the suspects are Chinese citizens and have returned to China.

Under the law, Chinese nationals who commit crimes will face prosecution by Chinese authorities, no matter where the crimes occurred, he explained.

"Even if offenders are not Chinese in the Thailand case, it can also be handled by Chinese police, because Chinese citizens will be protected by the law if they're harmed, no matter whether the harm happens in or out of the country," he said.

Noting the protection principle of the law, Xu Hao, a lawyer from the Beijing Jingsh Law firm, said it exists to safeguard the interests of the nation and its people.

"The three suspects will not be sent back to Thailand. Their case will be solved by Chinese police and judicial authorities," he added.

Both lawyers said that if several public security departments have jurisdiction over a criminal case, such as the place where the crime occurs, the organ that initially files the case, in general, will deal with it.

"The Thailand case may have been first reported to the Wenzhou police by the victim's family, so the suspects were transferred to the Wenzhou Public Security Bureau for investigation after capture," Liu added.

Thaiger, a media outlet from Thailand, earlier reported that the victim was a music student at Bangkok Thonburi University, and her body was discovered in central Nonthaburi on Saturday.