More than a month after the Kandal Provincial Court dismissed the case against five men imprisoned for a year over their alleged involvement in the disappearance of relics of the Buddha from a stupa on Oudong Mountain, the Appeal Court on Tuesday charged the group with theft.
Stupa security guards Chorm Thai, 57; Sieng Sarin, 58; and Ka Sak, 47; chief of security Pha Sokhem, 59; and moto-taxi driver Kann Sopheak, 39, were detained at the Kandal provincial prison soon after the relics—said to be the hair, teeth and bones of the Buddha—were found to be missing last December.
In February, police discovered the relics in the home of Takeo province farmer Keo Reaksmey, who admitted to the theft and was subsequently charged and jailed. The relics have since been rehoused inside the Royal Palace.
On November 20, Lim Sokuntha, investigating judge at the Kandal court, dropped the charges against the five men, but deputy prosecutor Sam Rithyveasna appealed the decision, while the men remained in prison.
Appeal Court Presiding Judge Seng Sivutha said Tuesday that their case would be tried at the provincial court after all, but did not say what evidence the court had against the accused.
“We decided to charge them,” Mr. Sivutha said, adding that the men stand accused of theft.
Tan Senarong, a prosecutor at the Appeal Court, said the suspects were not released from prison immediately after the charges were dropped because evidence linked them to the crime.
“There were footprints and handprints of the men on the floor, the door and wall of the stupa,” he said. “They did not have the right to enter the stupa because they just guarded the outside.”
Soeung Piseth, a lawyer representing the five men, could not be reached for comment.
Inside the Appeal Court compound Tuesday, Mr. Sokhem, chief of security at the stupa, maintained his innocence and insisted that he did not conspire with Mr. Reaksmey, the farmer.
“This is unjust for us, because we were not involved in stealing the Buddhist relics,” he said.
Sok Kheng, 41, the wife of another suspect, Mr. Sak, said the court should release all five men because Mr. Reaksmey had already admitted to the theft, and to acting alone.
“They are innocent and the thief was found,” she said.
