A child rights organization expressed outrage on Friday after court officials released a 73-year-old Austrian man whom police discovered Thursday with a naked 13-year-old Cambodian girl in his Phnom Penh hotel room.
Ernst Ivankowitsch, 73, was videotaped during the raid by police and child rights activists. In the footage, Ivankowitsch is questioned by police as he hastily pulls on his trousers and confesses that he had a sexual relationship with the young girl.
The suspect also said that he wished to marry the diminutive 13-year-old, who was wrapped only in a bathroom towel.
Ly Rasy, bureau chief of the municipal minor crime department, said Friday the suspect was arrested in his hotel on Kampuchea Krom Boulevard with the 13-year-old.
“We made an arrest based on the NGO report. Without the NGO, we could not make the arrest because the parents of the victim did not complain. [The parents] requested to release the suspect,” Ly Rasy said.
Municipal Court officials confirmed on Friday that the suspect was released.
Prosecutor Sok Roeun said Ivankowitsch was charged with debauchery. However, the girl had volunteered to be his “girlfriend” and a letter from commune officials stated the girl was 16 years old.
“I did not detain him because he is 73,” said Investigating Judge Kim Sophorn. ‘The victim’s family also demanded his release,” said Kim Sophorn, adding the girl’s parents say she is 16.
Hang Vibol, the director of Action Pour Les Enfants who mounted the investigation, alleged on Friday the suspect has had sexual relations with the girl since 1998.
“The release means our Cambodian laws do not protect the underage [children],” Hang Vibol said.
Hang Vibol said the girl’s parents informed him in February that the Austrian had spent about $10,000 on land and a house for them. The parents of the girl have declined to make a complaint because the suspect has promised to marry their daughter, he said.
“They knew he had sex with their daughter, but they made no complaint,” Hang Vibol alleged.
[AP World Services]
BC-AS-ODD—China-Leftorium€
China’s leftists get their own store€
BEIJING (AP) _ In a communist country being overrun by capitalism, Ma Bo may be the most enthusiastic leftist of them all.
Ma, 56, an entrepreneur in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, has opened what the official Xinhua News Agency bills as the country’s first shop for left-handed people.
“I just want to help the lefties with these special daily-use products, so they can lead an easier and more convenient life,” Ma was quoted Wednesday as saying.
He also operates a Web site for the same purpose _ with the slogan “Left is Best.” It also “promotes understanding about problems concerning the left-handed,” Xinhua said.
Ma’s shop features myriad accessories for left-handers, from scissors to can openers. It’s no small affair in a society where people who use their left hands are often scorned.
“I’m delighted to see that business people are beginning to show an interest in left-handed products now,” said Zhang Heng, a Beijing left-hander.
Ma’s only apparent problem? He can’t road-test his products before he sells them.
It seems he’s right-handed.
