The defence lawyer of the convicted former chief bodyguard of Senate President Chea Sim yesterday appealed the verdicts of Phnom Penh Municipal Court and a military court and asked the courts to drop the charges against his client.

Put Theavy, defence lawyer of Chhoeun Chanthan, said he asked the courts to overturn his client’s sentence of more than 30 years in prison on 9 charges including illegal distribution of weapons, embezzlement, faking public documents and destroying military materials.

“I disagree with the whole verdict because it’s ironic,” he said.

“The verdicts (with those charges) are more serious than the verdict for a person killing more than 10,000 people in the Khmer Rouge regime. My client did not commit like the accusation,” Puth Theavy added, referencing the initial sentence of 35 years handed to Duch, prison chief of the S-21 detention facility.

The Khmer Rouge tribunal has since increased it to a life-sentence.