The Svay Rieng Provincial Court has charged one of its own employees with corruption following an investigation into the court clerk by the government’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU), the prosecutor said Sunday.
Monh Saren, 48, was arrested by the ACU on February 18 and accused of taking a bribe of almost $2,000 from a drug dealer in return for securing his release, Hing Bunchea, provincial court prosecutor, said.
“We charged him with corruption because he received $1,900 in bribe money from a drug dealer and released the offender,” said Mr. Bunchea, who was unable to provide details about the drug dealer or his case.
Mr. Saren is now in pre-trial detention, provincial prison police chief Sous Sakho confirmed.
“We received him on Friday at about 5 p.m. along with a document accusing him of receiving a bribe,” Mr. Sakho said.
In October, ACU president Om Yentieng complained that the ACU was constantly being criticized for not seeing cases through, saying it was up to the courts to do that.
