Appeal Court upheld lower court decision in Sam Rainsy’s border lawsuit case

Choung Chou-ngy (L), Sam Rainsy's defense lawyer, and Ky Tech (R), the government lawyer (Photo: Sok Serey, RFA)

08 June 2010
By Sok Serey
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer

The Appeal Court upheld the decision handed by the Phnom Penh municipal court in the Svay Rieng border lawsuit case.

On Tuesday 08 June, the Cambodian Appeal Court upheld the decision handed down by the Phnom Penh municipal court to reject the request made by opposition leader Sam Rainsy to form a special commission to survey the coordinates for the various border posts in Svay Rieng province, along the Cambodian-Viet border,

The decision was made behind closed door at the Appeal Court presided by Judge Nhong Thol and 2 other judges: Chuon Sunleng and Seng Sivutha. The hearing was dubbed: investigation assembly.

Following the announcement of the court decision, Choung Chou-ngy, opposition leader Sam Rainsy’s defense lawyer, said that he is still thinking about appealing this case to the Supreme Court or not.

He added: “The rejection was done without investigation of the charge, i.e. the charge still remains. The investigation assembly believes that it is not the court duty to form this commission, and it based this [decision] on the fact that there is a government border committee already. I told [the court] that the government border committee is the entity that accuses my client. The fact that I am asking for a setup of a joint committee is for it to be mixed and neutral, with the participation of my client also.”

Ky Tech, the government lawyer, is gleeful about this decision, claiming that this is the right decision by the Appeal Court.

Ky Tech said: “Just now, the investigation assembly issued its decision and it said that it does not allow it, just like the Phnom Penh tribunal of first instance: this commission cannot be formed. Based on Sections 124 and 125 of the criminal law, the investigating judge must do the work, i.e. [the investigating judge] investigates on the topic and the charges leveled by the prosecutor, i.e. what the prosecutor charged. The investigating judge will investigate on this problem. This does not mean that we are forming a commission as they accused, as they sued for, it is about the falsification on this document.”

In May of this year, the Phnom Penh municipal court rejected all the request made by Sam Rainsy to set up a special 6-member commission to survey the coordinates of border stakes located in Samrong commune, Chantrea district, Svay Rieng province, delimiting the border between Cambodia and Vietnam, i.e. at border posts no. 184, 185, 186 and 187.

The Phnom Penh municipal court was requested to form a special commission after the Svay Rieng provincial court sentenced Sam Rainsy in absentia to 2-year of jail term on 27 January 2010, accusing him of destroying public property and incitement to racial discrimination because he led a number of Cambodian villagers in Svay Rieng to uproot border stakes at border post no. 185 on 29 October 2009, after the villagers claimed that these stakes were planted on their rice fields.

Ky Tech indicated that he and officials at the government border committee handed a number of documents on the coordinates of the border stakes to Sam Rainsy’s lawyer through the Phnom Penh municipal court on Monday.

Choung Chou-ny, Sam Rainsy’s defense lawyer, said that he did not receive these documents, nor copied them yet.

The documents consist of coordinates that government border experts have already surveyed.