The two men accused of killing trade union leader Chea Vichea last year will return
to the Phnom Penh municipal court in early August for a retrial in the controversial
case.
Presiding judge Kong Seth said he has scheduled the hearing for the first week of
August and will issue a letter next week to the suspect's lawyers to officially inform
them.
"I think there is no problem, the trial will proceed as usual," Seth said.
Despite both men having alibis, Bourn Samnang, 23, and Sok Samoeun, 36, stand accused
of the January 22, 2004, assassination of Vichea, an outspoken union activist and
Sam Rainsy Party supporter.
Charges against the men were dropped in March 2004 due to lack of evidence, but investigating
judge Hing Thirith was then transferred to Stung Treng and the case sent to the Appeal
Court.
A first municipal court hearing was scheduled in January 2005, but the suspects'
lawyers boycotted the trial, saying their appeal for bail had not yet been decided,
prompting Seth to postpone the case.
The Appeal Court rejected the bail request, and on July 8 the Supreme Court upheld
the decision.
The Supreme Court ruling was criticized by the Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee
(CHRAC), a coalition of 18 NGOs.
"The strategy of the Supreme Court, which said criminal suspects could not be
released on bail, is not fair because no article of law supports that [position],"
stated CHRAC in a July 8 press release.
Samnang defense's lawyer, Chum Sovannaly, said he will attend the trial now that
bail applications have been exhausted.
"I'm already prepared to join the trial," Sovannaly said.
The men have been in detention for almost 18 months.
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