BANGKOK (AP) — A court in Laos has brought charges against a distillery owner in connection with the deaths of foreign tourists in Laos in 2024. The charges will make the accused liable to a prison sentence of between three months and four years and a fine if found guilty, Denmark’s foreign ministry announced Friday.Two Danish women, Anne-Sofie Orkild Coyman, 20, and Freja Vennervald Sorensen, 21, were among six foreigners killed by drinking tainted alcohol at a tourist hostel in Vang Vieng in November 2024. The ministry’s statement, issued in Copenhagen and citing Lao authorities, said the charges were selling food that is harmful to health and operating an illegal business.It also said the case will formally remain open for 15 years, and charges can still be brought for a more serious offense, such as negligent homicide, if proof is sufficient. It did not say if the charges were related to all the deaths.The other victims were Australian teenagers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles, both 19; British lawyer Simone White, 28; and according to Lao media, U.S. citizen James Louis Hutson, 57.
The Danish foreign minister is deeply disappointedThe Danish foreign ministry statement cited Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen as declaring that he was deeply disappointed that the indictment didn’t reflect the seriousness and extent of the tragedy affecting so many families.He acknowledged it can be complicated to meet the precise burden of proof required to bring the most serious charges in such a case, but also pointed out that it is difficult to come to terms with such a lenient indictment.
