Heng Pov's Return Sparks Int'l Controversy
By Kay Kimsong and Erik Wasson
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
A day after former Phnom Penh police chief and murder convict Heng Pov's deportation to Cambodia, the Foreign Ministry on Friday reacted strongly to an appeal by Finland that Heng Pov be given a fair trial.
New details also emerged on Friday from Malaysia that due process may have been circumvented to get Heng Pov out of the country and back to Cambodia.
In a statement dated Thursday, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomoija appealed to Cambodia to respect Heng Pov's rights. Finland had issued Heng Pov an entry visa/
"Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomoija appeals to the Cambodia authorities to carry out a full investigation into the charges against former police chief Heng Pov...and to guarantee him a fair trial," the Helsinki statement read. A letter expressing this view from Finland to the Cambodian government prompted a press conference at the Foreign Ministry on Friday.
"If Finland is disappointed in the case of Heng Pov, today Cambodia has many criminals we could send to Finland instead of Heng Pov," Foreign Affairs Ministry Undersecretary of State Khieu Thavika told reporters. "I would like to stress that before we tried Heng Pov, the Cambodian court followed legal procedure.... As a sovereign state, we would never accept the procedure of the legal system of Finland to be implemented here."
Khieu Thavika said that there will be no retrial or reinvestigation of Heng Pov's case, now that he is in Prey Sar Prison.
He also said that Asean countries, like Malaysia which deported Heng Pov, "understand that Heng Pov is not a political asylum-seeker—it is the case of a criminal."
Heng Pov, who during his flight from justice accused several top government officials of drug dealing, murder and conspiracy, had claimed he would be tortured and killed if returned to Cambodia. He began his 18-year jail sentence on Thursday for the murder of judge Sok Sethamony in 2003.
Heng Pov's speedy deportation to Cambodia led to a bizarre scene that upset the Malaysian Federal Court on Thursday, the New Straits Times newspaper reported Friday.
At 1:20pm, the Federal Court met to hear a new request by Heng Pov's lawyer that his deportation be stayed, since he bid not exhausted his appeals process. The Court of Appeals, which overturned a Dec 15 High Court verdict that would have allowed Heng Pov to travel to Singapore and on to Finland, is not the highest court in Malaysia.
Nonetheless, by the time the higher Federal Court sat to hear the appeal less than two hours after the Court of Appeals handed down its decision, Heng Pov had already been improperly handed over to Cambodian police. When the judges sat down to hear Heng Pov's latest appeal, he was already in Phnom Penh.
"Are you sure he is no longer in Malaysia?" Federal Court Chief Judge Richard Malanjum asked the deputy public prosecutor, Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria the New Straits Times reported. The prosecutor replied that he had known neither that Heng Pov was going to appeal nor that the Immigration Department was going to act so quickly.
"When the High Court made the order, you appealed. Of course, they would do the same now, won't they," Judge Malanjum said scolding the public prosecutor.
Heng Pov's wife Ngin Sotheaby has filed complaints against the Malaysian immigration department and prosecutors' office.
"Something smells bad.... From the court he was handed over to the Cambodian police personnel and driven in a car and put on a plane, and within one hour the plane took off," Heng Pov's Malaysian attorney N Sivananthan told Agence France-Press.
Khieu Thavika said that no special deal was cut with the Malaysian government to get Heng Pov on the private jet back to Cambodia on Thursday. The Malaysian Embassy in Phnom Penh did not reply to requests for comment.
Heng Pov's court-appointed Cambodian lawyer Ty Vanndeth could not be reached on Friday.
SRP leader Sam Rainsy said that the government acted with great urgency in pursuing Heng Pov and "snatching" him from Malaysia.
"Why does the government pay more attention to Heng Pov than trying the criminals of the Khmer Rouge?" Sam Rainsy asked. "Maybe the government cannot sleep well because of Heng Pov."
New details also emerged on Friday from Malaysia that due process may have been circumvented to get Heng Pov out of the country and back to Cambodia.
In a statement dated Thursday, Finnish Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomoija appealed to Cambodia to respect Heng Pov's rights. Finland had issued Heng Pov an entry visa/
"Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomoija appeals to the Cambodia authorities to carry out a full investigation into the charges against former police chief Heng Pov...and to guarantee him a fair trial," the Helsinki statement read. A letter expressing this view from Finland to the Cambodian government prompted a press conference at the Foreign Ministry on Friday.
"If Finland is disappointed in the case of Heng Pov, today Cambodia has many criminals we could send to Finland instead of Heng Pov," Foreign Affairs Ministry Undersecretary of State Khieu Thavika told reporters. "I would like to stress that before we tried Heng Pov, the Cambodian court followed legal procedure.... As a sovereign state, we would never accept the procedure of the legal system of Finland to be implemented here."
Khieu Thavika said that there will be no retrial or reinvestigation of Heng Pov's case, now that he is in Prey Sar Prison.
He also said that Asean countries, like Malaysia which deported Heng Pov, "understand that Heng Pov is not a political asylum-seeker—it is the case of a criminal."
Heng Pov, who during his flight from justice accused several top government officials of drug dealing, murder and conspiracy, had claimed he would be tortured and killed if returned to Cambodia. He began his 18-year jail sentence on Thursday for the murder of judge Sok Sethamony in 2003.
Heng Pov's speedy deportation to Cambodia led to a bizarre scene that upset the Malaysian Federal Court on Thursday, the New Straits Times newspaper reported Friday.
At 1:20pm, the Federal Court met to hear a new request by Heng Pov's lawyer that his deportation be stayed, since he bid not exhausted his appeals process. The Court of Appeals, which overturned a Dec 15 High Court verdict that would have allowed Heng Pov to travel to Singapore and on to Finland, is not the highest court in Malaysia.
Nonetheless, by the time the higher Federal Court sat to hear the appeal less than two hours after the Court of Appeals handed down its decision, Heng Pov had already been improperly handed over to Cambodian police. When the judges sat down to hear Heng Pov's latest appeal, he was already in Phnom Penh.
"Are you sure he is no longer in Malaysia?" Federal Court Chief Judge Richard Malanjum asked the deputy public prosecutor, Mohamad Hanafiah Zakaria the New Straits Times reported. The prosecutor replied that he had known neither that Heng Pov was going to appeal nor that the Immigration Department was going to act so quickly.
"When the High Court made the order, you appealed. Of course, they would do the same now, won't they," Judge Malanjum said scolding the public prosecutor.
Heng Pov's wife Ngin Sotheaby has filed complaints against the Malaysian immigration department and prosecutors' office.
"Something smells bad.... From the court he was handed over to the Cambodian police personnel and driven in a car and put on a plane, and within one hour the plane took off," Heng Pov's Malaysian attorney N Sivananthan told Agence France-Press.
Khieu Thavika said that no special deal was cut with the Malaysian government to get Heng Pov on the private jet back to Cambodia on Thursday. The Malaysian Embassy in Phnom Penh did not reply to requests for comment.
Heng Pov's court-appointed Cambodian lawyer Ty Vanndeth could not be reached on Friday.
SRP leader Sam Rainsy said that the government acted with great urgency in pursuing Heng Pov and "snatching" him from Malaysia.
"Why does the government pay more attention to Heng Pov than trying the criminals of the Khmer Rouge?" Sam Rainsy asked. "Maybe the government cannot sleep well because of Heng Pov."
11 comments:
That is a sure thing! They can not and will not sleep well until HP is in Prey Sar Prison.
HP is the only man that can open full lid of jar which contains rotten flesh with worms.
Don't we all know by know that most illegal activities are behaving in that manner?
SLEEP WELL EVERYBODY!
i only care about christmas and new year and my family's bowl of rice...
i am not rambo...or superman!
bye
ss
Two month ago I won powerball for 49m. now I will go to cambodai looking for younger girls (a lot of pretty one)I know that my life will be happy,I dont care if I died.I dont care hunsen, hang pov, ranaridth, rainsy they all are stupid. and you too.
All those guys are the same criminals: The strongman, Hok Lundy, Mak Chito, Sokha, Kun Kim and other Phkat Chor...Pkay Thok Teap...
Heng Peou is better than them because he had revealed their criminal activities.
Cambodia must not be ruled anymore by those maffiosis and their families.
Welcome to the Khmer Chochus who 's only looking for young, cheap and poor girls.
You forget the hard time during the KR regime and that now you laso have daughters.....
You weight too much and useless on the saint Earth.
what a pity for khmer people?when we are stop bietting! khmer oi khmer
Heng Pow was a two star general , and an adviser to PM HUN SEN. To get to this position in HUN SEN'S govt, he must be a supercrook. As long as we extract all informations from him regarding the criminal activities ,he became useless.The more the cpp turned on their people the better the country is.
This is a very good reason for opposition in Nat Ass to inquire the integrity and due process of criminal handling by CPP court.
Lung Di,Soc Anh,Remy Martin XO information minister are Yuon operatives, so they would not kill Ong Heng Pov for Hun Sen vandetta,would they?
Dangkov chenh pee sach only time will tell...coffin makers prepare a custom made for Hun Sen
I tell you this. South Eas Asia countries are sure a hell on earth mainly Cambodia. The saddest part is the no education and the most brutal are rich and in power. And another saddest part is Hun Sen is being used by the Vietnamese.
Hun Sen will be famous as the Vietnamese's toilet paper. How much land Hun Sen gave to the vietnamese?
YOU'RE SICK BASTARDS IF YOU DON'T CARE ABOUT THE COUNTRY AND CAMBODIANS THEN YOU'RE A NOBODY. YOU HAVE NO HEART AND FEELING TOWARD THE POOR AND SUFFERING CAMBODIANS. YOU HAVE NO HEART AND FEELING TOWARD VIETNAMESE TAKING CONTROL IN CAMBODIA AND CAMBODIAN'S LAND. EVERYONE KNOWS THAT YOU ARE NOT A RAMBO, BUT IF WE'RE ALL STAND UP WE COULD BE STRONG. IT'S ALL ABOUT THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE.
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