Eight Chinese nationals are facing prison terms of 15 to 30 years each, after they were charged at Phnom Penh Municipal Court yesterday with kidnapping and illegally imprisoning three Chinese men and extorting money from their families.

“They were charged by the court’s prosecutor with illegal detention with aggravating circumstances,” Seng Vanak, a courthouse clerk, said yesterday. “They now have been sent to Prey Sar prison.”

Six of the eight suspects, who are all male and aged between 35 and 59, were arrested in the capital’s Meanchey and Chamkarmon districts on December 14 and 15, but two others have yet to be apprehended, according to Major Leng Song, of Phnom Penh military police.

“Police raided their rental houses in different places in Phnom Penh last week,” he said. “After the arrests, the military police rescued three Chinese victims.”

The kidnapped trio has since been reunited with their families, Song added.

The wives of three of the suspects were originally picked up with their husbands but released when it was determined they were not party to the crime.