I can't go into detail on my sources, David, but I have contacts among the Red network that primed Kritsuda for her interview, and I know she was encouraged to exaggerate. It's also worth noting that her own explanation for her lack of bruising when she first appeared on TV — that she had been given paracetamol and anti-inflammatory drugs — is simply not medically credible.
None of this is intended to detract from the fact that she was held for weeks, treated appallingly and forced to appear on TV to say things she did not believe.
But it's a pity that her advisors failed to understand that just telling the truth about what happened was the most powerful thing she could do, and that by exaggerating she blunted the effectiveness of her message.