Ahmad Yaya and his nephew Ismael Pin Osman appeal sentence
Buth Reaksmey Kongkea
Former parliamentarian Ahmad Yahya and his
nephew Ismael Pin Osman who both received 15-year sentences for human
trafficking had their case transferred to the Appeals Court yesterday as there
was evidence not considered by the lower court.
The evidence includes a list of the names
of labourers recruited by Ahmad’s licenced company and sent to work overseas
and charged under a law that didn’t exist at the time.
Ahmad, 70, former President of the Accent
Group and also a former Social Affairs Ministry secretary of state; and
Osman, 49, former official at the Ministry of Public Works and Transport,
were convicted of trafficking two women from Cambodia to work as housemaids in
Saudi Arabia.
Presiding Judge Kong Srim said Ahmad and Ismael
were sentenced on August 13, 2019 by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to 15 years
each in prison.
The court also ordered both of them to
jointly pay 200 million riels (about $50,000) each to the women.
However, he said the lower court did not
consider or have any report on some evidence.
“The Supreme Court decided to transfer the
case to the Phnom Penh Appeal Court for retrial for the truth to be revealed
and justice served,” Judge Srim said.
He added that the alleged crime happened in
2004 and four years later the law was created.
Oum Bunthoeun, Ahmad Yahya’s lawyer, lauded
the Supreme Court’s decision, claiming his client was innocent.
Bunthoeun said his client was charged under Article 11 of
the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation.
He said the law was established in 2008 and the crime
allegedly took place in 2004.
“If my client had committed an offence as
accused, he could not be arrested, detained or sentenced because the alleged
crime happened before the law was created by the National Assembly,” he said.
Ahmad said that his company was a legal company, licensed and registered with the Ministry of Commerce.
He confirmed that his company had recruited about 300
Cambodian women including the two victims to work in Saudi Arabia.
However, he said he did not traffic the women to work in Saudi Arabia as accused.
He added that he did not know that the two victims had
been exploited or sold by their employers in Saudi Arabia.
“I had pity for them and helped them find jobs in Saudi
Arabia through my company and now I am a prisoner and convicted for 15 years
because of my generosity,” he said.
“I am a former lawmaker, I know the laws and I respect
the laws. I did not violate the laws or traffic anyone to work abroad as
accused,” he added.
Ismael said that he did not know the two victims or send
them to work in Saudi Arabia in 2004.
He said that at that time he was an official working with
the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and did not have any free time to
work for his uncle’s company.
“I was innocent and I knew nothing about this case,” he
said.
Ismael was arrested by police in the
anti-human trafficking department of the Ministry of Interior on February 11,
2018 while Ahmad Yahya was arrested on August 13, 2019.
They were arrested after they had
recruited about 300 Cambodian women, some of them underage, via Ahmad Yahya’s
company named “Accent Group” to work as housemaids for $120 to $200 per month
from in Saudi Arabia between 2004 and 2017.
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