Cambodia’s high court drops case against men wrongly jailed for 2004 murder of labor activist
Cambodia’s Supreme Court ordered the release of two men Wednesday who were wrongly convicted and jailed for the 2004 murder of a prominent opposition activist. The court’s decision to drop all charges came amid renewed calls to free the men, whom leading international rights groups have called “scapegoats” in the murder of Chea Vichea and one of many examples of the country’s corrupt judicial system. … “We are very happy with this result, but this should not be the end,” Cambodia’s leading human rights groups said in a joint statement. “It should be the opportunity to properly look into one of the most tragic deaths in Cambodia’s recent history.” Chea Vichea was the leader of Cambodian’s largest labor union, the Free Trade Union of Workers, and an outspoken critic of government corruption and human rights abuses. He was gunned down in broad daylight on Jan. 22, 2004, at a roadside newsstand in the Phnom Penh after having received numerous death threats for his work as a labor organizer. Within a week, two men — Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun — were arrested. The investigation that followed sparked local and international outcry, as did the trial. … In 2008, the Supreme Court ordered a new investigation and retrial and the two men were released on bail from 2009-2012 but promptly jailed again when the Appeals Court upheld the original verdict and returned them to prison. In total, they spent more than five years in prison. The men had requested a re-hearing before the Supreme Court, which occurred Wednesday. The judges cited a lack of credible evidence as the reason for dropping the charges, the rights groups said in their joint statement. …
The Washington Post News Staff
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/cambodias-high-court-drops-case-against-men-wrongly-jailed-for-2004-murder-of-labor-activist/2013/09/25/2170fc90-25c2-11e3-9372-92606241ae9c_story.html
