A former senior military officer and bodyguard for the late Senate president Chea Sim saw his lengthy prison term reduced at the Court of Appeal, his attorney said yesterday.

After being arrested in 2011, Chhoeun Chanthan was sentenced to a total of 36 years in prison on a host of charges brought in both civilian and military court relating to weapons possession, forgery, embezzlement and military misconduct, among other things. He was also slapped with millions in fines and damages.

At an appeal hearing late last month, however, he saw his military court sentence slashed from 26 years to just 15, according to defence attorney Put Theavy.

Theavy said the reason for the sentence reduction was that all of Chanthan’s assets – including villas, land and the assets of his import-export business – had been seized by the Ministry of National Defence, the plaintiff in the case.

“Mr Chhoeun Chanthan is now empty-handed, and has nothing left besides the military prison room that he stays in.”

Theavy said that he will appeal for a further sentence reduction to the Supreme Court. A clerk there confirmed yesterday that Chanthan’s case was on the agenda for some time next month.