New Zealand Ambassador Peter Rider traveled to the Cambodian capital from his base in Thailand to press justice officials to allow Graham Cleghorn, who was convicted of raping the girls and sentenced to 20 years in prison in February 2004, to launch a second appeal.
On Jan. 11, an appeals court upheld a lower court's conviction, in a hearing that took place without Cleghorn present, prompting protests from the New Zealand government.
Justice Minister Ang Vong Vathana said he told Rider to have Cleghorn's lawyer write to the president of the appeals court, "and they will bring the case up for a new trial."
Rider "suggested that a new appeal be heard soon, and I told him that I will do my best to intervene with the appeals court to have the case heard as soon as possible," the minister told reporters after the meeting.
Cleghorn's appeal should be heard with "his witnesses, his lawyer, interpreter and representatives of the embassy from Bangkok present," Rider said. "The appeals court judge can hear both sides and then make a decision."
Cleghorn was convicted of raping the girls at his home in Siem Reap province, 230 kilometers northwest of the capital, Phnom Penh. The girls' ages have not been disclosed.
Cleghorn moved to Cambodia in the late 1980s. His Cambodian wife, Bout Toeur, was convicted of conspiring to collude in the rapes. She received a three-year suspended sentence.
Oung Chanthol, director of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center that provided legal counseling to the girls, said Thursday the victims have been subjected to discrimination and embarrassment as a result of the rapes. To overturn Cleghorn's sentence would "be trampling on the hearts of the victims and only cause them more pain," she said. (AP)
March 10, 2006
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