Kidnapped sisters released
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
TWO sisters accused of kidnapping a high-school student were released from prison yesterday after all charges against them were dropped, sparking a rights group to call for compensation for the three and a half months they spent in jail.
Kim Sarun, 18, and Kim Sophary, 28, cried at Phnom Penh Municipal Court as presiding judge Kor Vanthy announced that they had been found innocent of kidnapping and detaining missing student Keo Kanlida.
The siblings were arrested on January 23 after Keo Kanlida’s father, Keo Heang, filed a complaint. In earlier testimony, the court heard that he alleged that the sisters told him over the phone his daughter was at their house and owed them money.
The women, however, said there had been a misunderstanding. They had been talking about a friend with a similar name, called Kan Da, who they had lent US$100 to.
Judge Kor Vanthy yesterday agreed with then, saying: “It is considered that this is only a confusion of the victim’s name. Therefore, the court decided to drop charges against them and release them.”
The sisters, who both used to work at Universal Garment Factory, said that they were happy that justice had been done.
“We are both innocent people. We are very happy that the court has dropped charges against us and released us to meet our family,” said Kim Sophary.
Kim Sarun added: “I am very happy that I have been released from prison and I hope that I will able to work to support my family. However, I am still very disappointed with the police because I was innocent person and yet I jailed for nearly four months.”
Um Sam Ath, a senior investigator at rights group Lichado, said that had police mistakenly arrested the women without proper investigation.
“It is very regretful. I think that this was a police mistake because they are lacked of capacity [to investigate],” he said.
“According to the Cambodia’s laws, the government has to take its full responsibility in paying compensation for the waste of their time in which they could have been working and pursuing other interests,” he added.
But the director of the penal police department at the Ministry of Interior, Mak Chito, denied police lacked investigative capacity instead emphasising that authorities were able to fulfill their duties effectively.
“The police has the right to detain or arrest the suspects or offenders, but they can’t do this unless there are warrant arrests which are issued by the prosecutors or the court,” he added.
“If there is a mistake in an arrest, I think that it is not our police’s fault but is the prosecutor’s mistake because he or she is only the person who has the right to charge or not charge the suspects.”
Keo Heang was not present at the verdict could not be reached for comment yesterday.
TWO sisters accused of kidnapping a high-school student were released from prison yesterday after all charges against them were dropped, sparking a rights group to call for compensation for the three and a half months they spent in jail.
Kim Sarun, 18, and Kim Sophary, 28, cried at Phnom Penh Municipal Court as presiding judge Kor Vanthy announced that they had been found innocent of kidnapping and detaining missing student Keo Kanlida.
The siblings were arrested on January 23 after Keo Kanlida’s father, Keo Heang, filed a complaint. In earlier testimony, the court heard that he alleged that the sisters told him over the phone his daughter was at their house and owed them money.
The women, however, said there had been a misunderstanding. They had been talking about a friend with a similar name, called Kan Da, who they had lent US$100 to.
Judge Kor Vanthy yesterday agreed with then, saying: “It is considered that this is only a confusion of the victim’s name. Therefore, the court decided to drop charges against them and release them.”
The sisters, who both used to work at Universal Garment Factory, said that they were happy that justice had been done.
“We are both innocent people. We are very happy that the court has dropped charges against us and released us to meet our family,” said Kim Sophary.
Kim Sarun added: “I am very happy that I have been released from prison and I hope that I will able to work to support my family. However, I am still very disappointed with the police because I was innocent person and yet I jailed for nearly four months.”
Um Sam Ath, a senior investigator at rights group Lichado, said that had police mistakenly arrested the women without proper investigation.
“It is very regretful. I think that this was a police mistake because they are lacked of capacity [to investigate],” he said.
“According to the Cambodia’s laws, the government has to take its full responsibility in paying compensation for the waste of their time in which they could have been working and pursuing other interests,” he added.
But the director of the penal police department at the Ministry of Interior, Mak Chito, denied police lacked investigative capacity instead emphasising that authorities were able to fulfill their duties effectively.
“The police has the right to detain or arrest the suspects or offenders, but they can’t do this unless there are warrant arrests which are issued by the prosecutors or the court,” he added.
“If there is a mistake in an arrest, I think that it is not our police’s fault but is the prosecutor’s mistake because he or she is only the person who has the right to charge or not charge the suspects.”
Keo Heang was not present at the verdict could not be reached for comment yesterday.
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