The Minister of Justice on Thursday said he has ordered the Battambang Provincial Court to press criminal charges against two Phnom Penh Municipal Court judges and two deputy prosecutors, accused earlier this month of accepting bribes in exchange for releasing suspected criminals.
Ang Vong Vathana said he wrote a letter Tuesday, ordering the chief prosecutor of the Battambang court to charge the Phnom Penh judges Ham Mengse and Kong Sarith and Deputy Prosecutors Siem Sok Aun and Khut Sopheang.
“They will be charged with receiving bribes,” Ang Vong Vathana said by telephone on Thursday. He added that the four court officials are to be charged under articles 38 and 58 of the Untac law.
Article 38 pertains to corruption and carries a three- to seven-year prison term, while article 58 pertains to bribery and is punishable up to three years imprisonment.
Ang Vong Vathana said the case is being referred to the Battambang court because “the prosecutor there looks smarter.”
The two judges and two deputy prosecutors were named by municipal police at a March 2 news conference for their alleged involvement in the illegal release of six suspected criminals.
While the two deputy prosecutors were subsequently suspended, opening the way for the court to charge them, the Minister said he did not know whether the two judges had yet been suspended.
Both judges said on Wednesday they had never received any notice of suspension.
According to the Constitution, judges cannot be dismissed and only the Supreme Council of Magistracy can take disciplinary action against them.
Contacted Thursday, Ham Mengse, Siem Sok Aun and Khut Sopheang declined to comment, and calls to Kong Sarith were unsuccessful.
“I do not want to comment on anything,” Siem Sok Aun said. “I just want to see the [court] summons.”
Tuot Lux, secretary of state for the Justice Ministry, said Thursday that the Battambang court will now handle the case because the six suspected criminals, whom the four court officials had allegedly released illegally, were accused of committing a crime in that province in December 2003.
He added that the Ministry “does not trust the troubled court of Phnom Penh” to charge its own court officials. The Phnom Penh Court “has a lot of problems. It could not take any action against this case,” Tuot Lux said.
Phnom Penh Municipal Police Chief Heng Pov said Thursday that the police have enough evidence to support the charges.
“It is not only enough, the evidence is overwhelming,” Heng Pov said.
Yam Yeth, chief prosecutor of Battambang Provincial Court, said he had not yet received the Justice Minister’s order on Thursday. But he said he would carry through with the charges.
“This case is not a serious one,” Yam Yeth said, adding that much higher-ranking officials are involved in corruption.
But, he said, “No one dares to arrest [in such cases].”
