A student convicted of contributing to the Jan 29 anti-Thai riots will file a lawsuit against the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for his long pretrial detention, the student’s lawyer said Sunday.
Faculty of Law student Ken Sara, 24, will file complaints at the Municipal Court this week, Legal Aid of Cambodia lawyer Mon Keosivin said.
Keeping suspects locked up beyond the six-month maximum mandated by law is an infringement of human rights conventions and the Untac law, he said.
Mon Keosivin said Ken Sara could not study or earn money while in prison, and that he needs monetary compensation as justice.
Municipal police arrested Ken Sara on Feb 6, a week after hundreds of Cambodians torched the Thai Embassy and ransacked several Thai-owned businesses. Municipal Court Prosecutor Sok Roeun, in a trial held Sept 2 and Sept 3, offered no witnesses to testify against Ken Sara.
The trial occurred nearly seven months after the arrests, and Ken Sara claims he was held in jail throughout that time.
Sok Roeun denied that Ken Sara was held longer than six months.
Municipal Court Judge Tan Senarong found Ken Sara guilty of inciting violence and illegally demonstrating based on the defendant’s testimony. Ken Sara said he had encouraged demonstrators to refrain from anarchy and to protest in an orderly fashion.
Constitutional Council member Son Soubert said Sunday that Ken Sara’s complaint was valid, as a pretrial detention exceeding six months is a violation of the Constitution’s Article 31.
Son Soubert said he doubted Ken Sara would find justice from the court, however, and suggested he appeal to King Norodom Sihanouk for help.
“In the present condition in our judiciary system, we cannot assure one’s rights,” he said. “But because it’s a question of human rights, they can also ask the King himself to bring the complaint to the Constitutional Council.”
King Sihanouk, who holds the title of supreme magistrate, has the authority to bring cases pertaining to human rights before the Constitutional Council, Son Soubert said. The King pardoned Ken Sara and Norton University student Thorn Veasna, also convicted of participating in the riots, on Sept 18. The King said he did not believe the students were guilty of inciting the mayhem.
Tan Senarong said Sunday that Ken Sara should delay his complaint and consider the gravity of the charge. “Ken Sara should stop and wait and ask me again. Let me see Ken Sara’s purpose and objective. Let me see, and then I can tell him,” he said.
