By Prak Chan Thul
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
Court testimony wrapped up Thursday in the Dragon's Tail illegal logging scandal in Phnom Penh, but Presiding Judge Ke Sakhorn said he did not know when a verdict would be announced.
During the hearing, the court heard dramatic witness claims that former Ratanakkiri Governor Kham Khoeun and other provincial authorities permitted a Vietnamese firm to plunder Virachey National Park.
Defense attorneys decried what they called a lack of evidence against their powerful clients, particularly evidence to back up allegations that they were paid bribes.
Defendant Yim Sath, a former Virachey park ranger, told the court that he was the only ranger guarding all of the national park and that he received a $40 per month salary paid out of World Bank funds.
Witness San Sany, a deputy bureau chief of conservation at the national park, said that he once saw 20 Vietnamese trucks laden with logs pass directly in front of a Cambodian police post.
"I reported it on 28 [May 2004] to [former park director] Koy Sokha and he gave the phone to Kham Khoeun to talk to me," San Sany told the court. Kham Khoeun's lawyer Puth Theavy countered, asking if San Sany had ever seen Kham Khoeun take a bribe. San Sany said that he had not.
Witness Seng Veasna testified that he drove Kham Khoeun, former provincial forestry chief Khorn Sareth, former provincial military commander Moeung Samoeun and former provincial police chief Yoeung Baloung to Vietnam for private meetings.
Deputy border protection police chief Sou Nai said that he and his officers received $600 from provincial border police chief Phon Sophat and military commander Liam Say to permit the logging.
Environment Ministry lawyer Lim Eng Rattanak testified that after the World Bank discovered the massive logging operation in Virachey on May 12, 2004, logs were still inside the park and that Kham Khoeun had agreed to prevent them leaving the country. However, by June 16 all the logs were gone. Following the full day of testimony, Yoeung Baloung's lawyer Ka Savuth said that no evidence had been presented that anyone had accepted bribes.
During the hearing, the court heard dramatic witness claims that former Ratanakkiri Governor Kham Khoeun and other provincial authorities permitted a Vietnamese firm to plunder Virachey National Park.
Defense attorneys decried what they called a lack of evidence against their powerful clients, particularly evidence to back up allegations that they were paid bribes.
Defendant Yim Sath, a former Virachey park ranger, told the court that he was the only ranger guarding all of the national park and that he received a $40 per month salary paid out of World Bank funds.
Witness San Sany, a deputy bureau chief of conservation at the national park, said that he once saw 20 Vietnamese trucks laden with logs pass directly in front of a Cambodian police post.
"I reported it on 28 [May 2004] to [former park director] Koy Sokha and he gave the phone to Kham Khoeun to talk to me," San Sany told the court. Kham Khoeun's lawyer Puth Theavy countered, asking if San Sany had ever seen Kham Khoeun take a bribe. San Sany said that he had not.
Witness Seng Veasna testified that he drove Kham Khoeun, former provincial forestry chief Khorn Sareth, former provincial military commander Moeung Samoeun and former provincial police chief Yoeung Baloung to Vietnam for private meetings.
Deputy border protection police chief Sou Nai said that he and his officers received $600 from provincial border police chief Phon Sophat and military commander Liam Say to permit the logging.
Environment Ministry lawyer Lim Eng Rattanak testified that after the World Bank discovered the massive logging operation in Virachey on May 12, 2004, logs were still inside the park and that Kham Khoeun had agreed to prevent them leaving the country. However, by June 16 all the logs were gone. Following the full day of testimony, Yoeung Baloung's lawyer Ka Savuth said that no evidence had been presented that anyone had accepted bribes.
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