The alleged mistress of deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha has again been summoned to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to face questions about a complaint accusing her of “prostitution,” though the crime she is suspected of committing remains unclear.
Khom Chandaraty, a 25-year-old hairdresser, has found herself at the center of an expansive legal case widely believed to be politically motivated. The court issued a summons on Wednesday asking her to appear on June 16 for questioning “related to prostitution.”
Ms. Chandaraty’s attorney, Kim Veasna, said that he did not understand why his client had been summoned or what crime the court might charge her with.
“But my client and I will appear at the court because…when the court summons us, we have to go and tell them what we know,” he said.
Mr. Sokha, who has been staying at the CNRP’s Phnom Penh headquarters since police attempted to arrest him on May 26, has been summoned to appear before the court on June 14 for refusing to appear as a “witness” in the prostitution case.
An election official and four officers from rights group Adhoc, which provided legal assistance to Ms. Chandaraty when she was first called to court in April, have been jailed for allegedly bribing her to deny the affair with Mr. Sokha. After initially denying the affair under questioning by anti-terrorism police, she admitted to it when interrogated by a prosecutor.
Municipal court spokesman Ly Sophanna said deputy prosecutor Sieng Sok was following standard procedure in summoning Ms. Chandaraty after receiving the prostitution complaint from the anti-terrorism police.
However, Billy Tai, a lawyer and human rights consultant, said the case made no sense given what was known about the alleged relationship between Mr. Sokha and Ms. Chandaraty.
“What has been alleged of Kem Sokha and her, there is no evidence that she was a prostitute,” he said, noting that the crime of “soliciting” prostitution in the Law on Suppression of Human Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation was clearly defined—and not applicable.
“If I buy a gift for someone I am in a sexual relationship with, does that make it prostitution? That is absurd.”
(Additional reporting by Colin Meyn)
