Silence broken at last
Notification that her son is being detained at Correctional Centre 3 in Kampong Cham came as a relief to Touch Sart yesterday, after spending nearly a week wondering whether he was even alive.
Since her son, Theng Saroeun, was arrested along with 22 others at demonstrations last Thursday and Friday, police, court and prison officials have refused to confirm the identities or whereabouts of those detained. After six days of silence, prison officials yesterday finally allowed family members, lawyers and a doctor to visit them. …
The fact that they have spent nearly a week of detention without access to their families or lawyers – a violation of defendants’ rights in Cambodia – and held in an isolated prison far from their Phnom Penh homes indicates the government’s strong desire to keep them cut off from supporters, Naly Pilorge, director of rights group Licadho, said. …
Keeping the prisoners without access to their families or legal representation for as long as authorities did is an outrageous departure from normal due process in Cambodia, Dave Welsh, country director for labour rights group Solidarity Center, said. …
May Titthara and Sean Teehan
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/silence-broken-last
