THE NATION
Siwarak Chotipong, the Thai national being held in Cambodia for allegedly trying to obtain ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's flight plan, will seek bail next week.Ads by Google
A delegation from the Thai Justice Ministry will also visit Phnom Penh on Monday, to provide him with legal assistance.
A Cambodian court will take a week to decide whether to grant bail so he can be free during his trial, said a Thai Foreign Ministry source.
Justice Ministry deputy permanent secretary Thawee Sodsong will lead the delegation to see Siwarak and will spend a few days there to provide him with the necessary assistance.
Cambodian human-rights lawyer Kav Soupha is heading the legal team defending Siwarak.
The 31-year-old engineer was arrested last week and charged under Article 19 of the Archives Act of 2005 for threatening national security. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
The Phnom Penh Post quoted Soupha as saying the leaking of Thaksin's flight schedule could not be constituted a threat to Cambodia's national security.
Cambodian officials allege Siwarak was asked to steal the flight schedule by Kamrob Palawatwichai, first secretary of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh.
Kamrob was expelled last week, and Thailand retaliated by expelling the first secretary of the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok.
Opposition Pheu Thai Party MP Jatuporn Promphan has claimed Cambodia has a recording of a phone conversation in which Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya instructed Kamrob to seek Thaksin's flight information.
Cambodian authorities have rejected the claim, saying they had not taped any phone conversations.
Thaksin, who has been appointed as an adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, was in Cambodia last week to give a lecture on economic-development strategy and met Pheu Thai and red-shirt supporters.
Angered by Thaksin's visit, the Thai government has been reviewing economic assistance to Cambodia, along with a maritime deal. Diplomatic retaliation in recent weeks has worsened bilateral relations that were already tense from the border conflict centring on Preah Vihear Temple.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday said Thaksin could help mend the sour relations by resigning from his position as Hun Sen's adviser.
"I'm not asking Thaksin to resign, but I believe he must, in order to end the conflict. Or Cambodia should revoke his appointment; that would help," he told reporters. "Diplomatic ties will improve once Thaksin quits his advisory role."
He said he appreciated Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh's gesture of coming out to deny the condoning of wiretapping.
"I thank Tea Banh for clarifying the issue. Otherwise, the international community would have remained suspicious of Cambodia," he said.
Tea Banh on Thursday said the government did not listen in on phone conversations and denied the existence of a taped telephone conversation purportedly implicating Siwarak in spying.
Meanwhile, Thailand's Second Army Region yesterday decided to postpone indefinitely a friendly football match with Cambodia's Fourth Army Region. The match was due to take place today and tomorrow at Ban Phumsrol School in Si Sa Ket province.
The Cambodian side notified the Thai side that they were not ready.
A delegation from the Thai Justice Ministry will also visit Phnom Penh on Monday, to provide him with legal assistance.
A Cambodian court will take a week to decide whether to grant bail so he can be free during his trial, said a Thai Foreign Ministry source.
Justice Ministry deputy permanent secretary Thawee Sodsong will lead the delegation to see Siwarak and will spend a few days there to provide him with the necessary assistance.
Cambodian human-rights lawyer Kav Soupha is heading the legal team defending Siwarak.
The 31-year-old engineer was arrested last week and charged under Article 19 of the Archives Act of 2005 for threatening national security. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in prison.
The Phnom Penh Post quoted Soupha as saying the leaking of Thaksin's flight schedule could not be constituted a threat to Cambodia's national security.
Cambodian officials allege Siwarak was asked to steal the flight schedule by Kamrob Palawatwichai, first secretary of the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh.
Kamrob was expelled last week, and Thailand retaliated by expelling the first secretary of the Cambodian Embassy in Bangkok.
Opposition Pheu Thai Party MP Jatuporn Promphan has claimed Cambodia has a recording of a phone conversation in which Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya instructed Kamrob to seek Thaksin's flight information.
Cambodian authorities have rejected the claim, saying they had not taped any phone conversations.
Thaksin, who has been appointed as an adviser to Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, was in Cambodia last week to give a lecture on economic-development strategy and met Pheu Thai and red-shirt supporters.
Angered by Thaksin's visit, the Thai government has been reviewing economic assistance to Cambodia, along with a maritime deal. Diplomatic retaliation in recent weeks has worsened bilateral relations that were already tense from the border conflict centring on Preah Vihear Temple.
Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban yesterday said Thaksin could help mend the sour relations by resigning from his position as Hun Sen's adviser.
"I'm not asking Thaksin to resign, but I believe he must, in order to end the conflict. Or Cambodia should revoke his appointment; that would help," he told reporters. "Diplomatic ties will improve once Thaksin quits his advisory role."
He said he appreciated Cambodian Defence Minister Tea Banh's gesture of coming out to deny the condoning of wiretapping.
"I thank Tea Banh for clarifying the issue. Otherwise, the international community would have remained suspicious of Cambodia," he said.
Tea Banh on Thursday said the government did not listen in on phone conversations and denied the existence of a taped telephone conversation purportedly implicating Siwarak in spying.
Meanwhile, Thailand's Second Army Region yesterday decided to postpone indefinitely a friendly football match with Cambodia's Fourth Army Region. The match was due to take place today and tomorrow at Ban Phumsrol School in Si Sa Ket province.
The Cambodian side notified the Thai side that they were not ready.
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