Authorities have stepped up efforts to find and arrest Pich Kong You-the bodyguard of disgraced former Pursat provincial prosecutor Tob Chan Sereivuth– almost a year after Mr. Kong You was convicted in absentia of extortion and illegal detention and sentenced to 18 years in prison.
The Anticorruption Unit (ACU) on Friday issued an announcement requesting the public to report any sightings of 43-year-old Mr. Kong You–who has been on the run since Mr. Chan Sereivuth and two other bodyguards were arrested in 2010–to the police or the ACU.
“The ACU announced to the public to report to the ACU if they see the convicted person, Pech Kong You, as there is an arrest warrant out for him issued by the Pursat Provincial Court,” Touch Sunnary, officer in charge of security at the ACU, said yesterday.
A photograph of Mr. Kong You and a photocopy of his I.D. card were also made public with the statement.
Mr. Kong You’s former employer and brother-in-law, Mr. Sereivuth, was sentenced to 19 years in jail in May in the first case brought to trial by the newly established ACU. Two of his bodyguards, Ros Samnang and Chhit Vuthy, were given 15- and 16-year jail terms respectively.
The three men had been arrested in November 2010 for an incident in which the former prosecutor detained and attempted to extort money from a musical troupe transporting timber in Pursat. Mr. Kong You avoided arrest and has been at large since.
Ton Sehak Techas, current Pursat provincial prosecutor, said an arrest warrant for Mr. Kong You had been out since 2010, but so far there had been no reported sightings of the ex-bodyguard.
Mr. Chan Sereivuth, he added, has appealed against his conviction and on Wednesday the Court of Appeal is due to hear his case.
