Acquitted Swiss sex suspect Rudolf Knuchel lashed out at Siem Reap judicial officials and a local NGO on Thursday, almost one week after his lengthy, high- profile court battle came to an end, when he was found innocent Oct 11 of debauchery charges.
Knuchel, a tourism professional and longtime Siem Reap resident, believes his arrest was engineered by sensationalist international journalists, a corrupt judiciary and a citizenry bent on usurping his real estate.
He cited improprieties in the arrest procedure and a vindictive NGO.
Knuchel, 55, was arrested on the evening of Jan 26, 2000, when police raided his restaurant and business center and allegedly found him partially naked with boys aged 14 and 18. Siem Reap Judge Plang Chhlam said Sunday that the court did not have enough evidence to convict him.
Knuchel disputed Plang Chhlam’s stated reasons behind his acquittal. The judge said that Knuchel had consensual sex with the 18-year-old boy.
“They maintained that they saw me naked with two naked boys. But [in Cambodia], they can put a naked kid next to you and then show some journalists and you are locked up. They asked the 18-year-old in the court if he had sex with me and he said, ‘No, I didn’t,’” Knuchel said on Thursday.
It was also reported that there was a partially naked 14-year-old boy on the premises when Knuchel was arrested.
“The 14-year-old was the star of the show. He was the guy who showed up suddenly in my house with no trousers on. When I told him to go away, he yelled in the street, and that is when the whole gang came in.”
Knuchel accused the journalists of putting the youths up to the stunt.
Knuchel said the midnight raid during which he was taken into custody was conducted illegally. He was detained without an arrest warrant, he said, and civilians participated in the raid. He said he plans on suing journalists from Germany, Switzerland and Canada, who he said orchestrated the bust, along with the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center.
Knuchel added that the CWCC bypassed legal judicial channels by taking the case directly to the courts instead of the police.
Knuchel alleged that authorities felt that if he were convicted he would be forced to give up his real estate.
“When CWCC came to [Investigating Judge] Tan Senarong, he listened. When he learned there was a $1 million piece of land involved, he listened even more,” Knuchel said
Siem Reap Investigating Judge Tan Senarong said he could not comment on the investigation. But he said that CWCC did not put the children up to filing complaints against Knuchel, nor did they invite journalists to take part in the raid.
Tan Senarong said the children filed complaints with the CWCC of their own accord, and CWCC brought those complaints to the police, not directly to the courts.
The CWCC denied claims that it was behind the charges against Knuchel.
“Our organization is only an NGO. We are not affiliated with the government and we don’t have the authority to order the police to arrest anyone,” said Nop Sarin Srey Roth, chief investigator for CWCC. “If the Swiss man did not do something wrong, he would not have been arrested,” she said.
“The CWCC likes to see people are tried in the newspapers. These stories sell more papers than stories about development in Siem Reap,” Knuchel said Thursday
Nop Sarin Srey Roth said “it is the press’ freedom to write whatever they want.” CWCC does not have the right to order a journalist to write about anyone, she said. Besides, she said, news stories are not admissible in court.
CWCC officials have called the verdict “unjust” and said they plan to hold a news conference on the verdict in the near future.
(Additional reporting by Kuch Naren)
