Two siblings sentenced to prison for murder two years ago in Kampong Cham will appear in Phnom Penh’s court of appeal today after family members filed a complaint against the provincial court.

In 2010, Chan Srey Mom, 26, was arrested and charged with poisoning her husband’s food. When her brother, Chan Seoun, tried to appeal, he was also arrested and charged as an accomplice, said Chan Seoun’s wife, Seoun Chanthy.

They were sentenced to 18 years’ prison and made to pay US$17,500 to the man’s mother.  

Seoun Chanthy said she could not accept the verdict.

“My husband and my sister-in-law did not kill the man. He died of high blood pressure,” she said, adding the story was concocted by the dead man’s mother, who was angered by her daughter-in-law’s refusal to include her in a land title.

In November 2010, about 150 villagers went to the court to demand the siblings be released, but were rejected.