Supreme Court Hear Appeal in Trafficked Woman Case

 


\Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

The Supreme Court yesterday heard the appeal of a former Cambodian female garment worker jailed for 16 years for allegedly smuggling and selling seven Cambodian women to work as masseuses and sexual commercial workers in Malaysia. 

Presiding Judge You Otttara named the accused as Oum Radin, 35, from Phnom Penh’s Russei Keo district.

Judge Ottara stated that in 2016, Radin recruited seven Cambodian women and sent them from Phnom Penh to Malaysia via a Malaysian owned-labour recruitment agency based in Kuala Lumpur to work as housemaids there. 

He said that when the victim arrived in Kuala Lumpur, they were later sold to work as masseuses and sexual commercial workers in karaoke shops there. 

“The victims were sold by the Malaysian nationals who are the owners of karaoke shops from one place to one place as slaves and were forced to work there without payment for more than a year,” he said. 

Judge Ottara said that the victims were later rescued from a karaoke shop by Cambodian Embassy officials in cooperation with Malaysian police in 2017. 

He said that Radin was arrested on September 1, 2017 by police in the Interior Ministry’s Anti-Human Trafficking Department in accordance with the victims’ complaint. 

Judge Ottara said Radin was sentenced on July 13, 2019 by Phnom Penh Municipal Court to 16 years in prison.  She was charged with “unlawful removal for cross-border transfer” under Article 11 of the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.  

At yesterday’s hearing, Radin denied the allegations, saying that she did not sell the Cambodian women to work in karaoke shops in Malaysia.

 However, she acknowledged that she had recruited them to work as housemaids in Malaysia via a Malaysian owned-labor recruitment agency and was paid about $1,443 for each person.

She said that she also did not know that the victims were trafficked or sold to work with the karaoke shops in Malaysia. 

She asked the Supreme Court to overturn the ruling of the lower courts and drop her charges.

A verdict is due on December 7.

 

 

 

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