A Cambodian Human broker trial

 


Buth Reaksmey Kongkea 

The Phnom Penh Appeal Court heard the case of a 32-year-old man accused of smuggling 30 Cambodians from Svay Rieng province into Thailand to work in construction and withholding their salaries.

Court’s Presiding Judge Suos Sam Ath said yesterday that the accused was identified as Morn Sovannara, also known as Khchao, a former labourer working in Thailand and living in Svay Rieng province’s Rohaek Meas district.

Judge Sam Ath said that in 2020, Sovannara smuggled the 30 workers, who live in Svay Rieng province, into Thailand to look for work.

He said that the accused also charged each victim a $200 fee to travel to Thailand and find work.

After the victims arrived in Thailand’s Samut Sakhon province, Sovannara sold them to a Thai owner of a construction company and charged him three months salary for each worker before returning to Svay Rieng province.

He noted that after three months of working in Thailand, the victims hadn’t received any wages, and when the workers complained to the Thai owner he told them that their salaries had already been paid to Sovannara.

The victims then quit working for the company and found other construction work in Thailand.

He stated that in February 2021, the victims returned to Cambodia due to the Covid-19 pandemic and filed a lawsuit against Sovannara with the Svay Rieng Provincial Court.

Sovannara was arrested on March 8, 2021 in accordance with victims’ lawsuit.

The Svay Rieng Provincial Court on August 8 last year sentenced Sovannara to five years in prison, but the sentence was commuted to two years in prison and the remainder was suspended.

The provincial court also ordered him to pay 311 million riels (about $77,750) in compensation to the victims.

Sovannara was charged with “Unlawful Recruitment for Exploitation” under Article 12 of the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.

However, Svay Rieng Provincial Court’s Prosecutor disagreed with Sovannara’s sentence and took the case to the Phnom Penh Appeal Court as Sovannara’s case is punishable by seven to 15 years in prison under Article 12 of the Law on Unlawful Recruitment for Exploitation.

At yesterday’s hearing, Sovannara admitted committing an offence, saying that the sentence given by the Svay Rieng Provincial Court was appropriate.

He said that the compensation for the workers is very high and he could not earn enough money to pay the victims.

A verdict is due on July 21.

// END//

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