The ex-wife of one of the country’s richest men—jailed in January over a plot to rape and murder the wife and daughter of Commerce Minister Sun Chanthol—was denied bail by the Supreme Court on Friday, lawyers said.
“The court upheld [the Appeal Court] decision to detain my client,” said Chea Chanravy, a lawyer for Lay Huong, who was arrested in Thailand in December and extradited to Cambodia following a spectacular falling out with her common-law husband Khao Phallaboth.
Mr. Phallaboth, a construction magnate, is the brother-in-law of Mr. Chanthol. Ms. Huong has maintained that she has no knowledge of the plot she is accused of masterminding.
Kong Srim, deputy director of the Supreme Court and presiding judge at the hearing, declined to explain his bail decision.
“Dont ask me, I won’t answer,” he said. Pal Chandara, a lawyer for Mr. Chanthol, the plaintiff in the case, said “strong evidence” had been forwarded to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court, which had set a trial date of August 10.
