Two Adhoc officials appeared before the Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday for additional questioning, with both continuing to deny charges they had bribed a witness.

Nay Vanda and Ny Sokha, senior staffers at the human rights group, were questioned by judge Theam Chanpiseth, who grilled them about their interactions with Khom Chandaraty, the alleged mistress of opposition leader Kem Sokha.

Defence lawyer Lor Chunthy said Vanda was asked about when he first met Chandaraty and about their conversation.

“My client replied that he met her [Chandaraty] because she was afraid after she had received a summons from the Interior Ministry, so she came to Adhoc,” Chunthy said.

Chunthy continued to ask the judge to release his clients, saying Chandaraty’s claim that they had asked her to lie about an audio recording of a conversation purportedly between her and Sokha was without merit.

Last week, jailed Adhoc staffers Lim Mony and Yi Soksan also faced additional interrogation, with Mony requesting that Chandaraty be present during questioning, a request the judge has yet to rule on.