Cambodian police officers block a road near the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, where former police chief Heng Pov has faced a series of hearings since Wednesday.Mony
VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
22/03/2007
Former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov was sentenced seven years in prison Thursday for illegally locking up a woman for more than two months, as a series of hearings shedding light on the dubious nature of Cambodia's security apparatus continued.
Heng Kim Leang, a high school teacher from Kampong Speu, told Phnom Penh Municipal Court she had been held for 70 days in 2005 after she was accused of bribing authorities to release her brother, who had been accused of robbery, a charge she denied.
An underling, Ly Rasy, the former deputy chief of Phnom Penh's minor crime bureau , received six years on the same charge.
The court ordered Heng Pov and Ly Rasy to pay $25,000 each to compensate Heng Kim Leang.
Heng Pov's lawyer said he would appeal the decision.
Heng Pov, a former adviser to Prime Minster Hun Sen, is already serving 18 years for the murder of a judge. He was cleared of extortion charges Wednesday but faces more criminal charges in coming days.
He fled the country last year and sought refuge in Europe from Malaysia. He penned lengthy statement before he was extradited that blamed Prime Minister Hun Sen for a 1997 grenade attack on an opposition rally and pinned the murder of popular actress Piseth Pilika on National Police Chief Hok Lundy.
Heng Kim Leang, a high school teacher from Kampong Speu, told Phnom Penh Municipal Court she had been held for 70 days in 2005 after she was accused of bribing authorities to release her brother, who had been accused of robbery, a charge she denied.
An underling, Ly Rasy, the former deputy chief of Phnom Penh's minor crime bureau , received six years on the same charge.
The court ordered Heng Pov and Ly Rasy to pay $25,000 each to compensate Heng Kim Leang.
Heng Pov's lawyer said he would appeal the decision.
Heng Pov, a former adviser to Prime Minster Hun Sen, is already serving 18 years for the murder of a judge. He was cleared of extortion charges Wednesday but faces more criminal charges in coming days.
He fled the country last year and sought refuge in Europe from Malaysia. He penned lengthy statement before he was extradited that blamed Prime Minister Hun Sen for a 1997 grenade attack on an opposition rally and pinned the murder of popular actress Piseth Pilika on National Police Chief Hok Lundy.
1 comment:
The Heng Pov case is yet another stern and unequivocable warning to all others: you tow the party's or ruler's line or they use your bad record against you. How many people have a clean record?
On the other hand, it is also a warning to those in power of what will happen to them when out of power. And the law of impermanence (anatta) is as true as in Buddha's times.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Post a Comment