Two Indonesian tourists  found guilty of robbing a tele-communications company cashier of US$35,000 were yesterday sentenced to one year in prison.

The sentence was handed down despite claims they were not in the country at the time.

Dainavil Saputra, 27, and Rahman Ali, 32, were convicted at the capital’s municipal court of stealing the money from a Metfone cashier in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district on February 9.

Both men have previously denied the charges during their trial, claiming they were out of the country when the robbery took place.

They said they had entered the Kingdom as tourists through the Poipet checkpoint on February 5 and returned to Indonesia via the same checkpoint on February 9, allegedly leaving Cambodia before the crime occurred.

The pair returned to the Kingdom in March, at which point they were arrested.

“I think the verdict is very unjust, because they are innocent people. I will discuss with them the possibility of making an appeal soon,” the suspects’ attorney, Pich Sor-ya, said.

Dainavil Saputra is a suspect in another robbery that took place on February 24. In that case, a couple had $60,000 stolen from them.

That  crime also took place during the period he claimed to be out of the country.  

Chan Setha, chief of general planning for Metfone, yesterday expressed his displeasure with the court’s ruling on the grounds that he would not be compensated for the stolen $35,000.

“I am not pleased with the court’s verdict because the prison sentence is too small and the suspects have not been ordered to pay back the stolen money to my company as we requested,’’ he said.

“I will make an appeal to the court soon to ask for the payment of money to my company.’’

The Indonesian embassy in Phnom Penh could not be reached for comment.