The Appeal Court on Monday heard the trial of a father and son accused of producing and trafficking 112.71g of methamphetamine in the capital’s Prampi Makara district in 2011.

Den Sokchea, 26, one of the suspects, told the court that his father, Sok Dara, 58, and step-mother, Hem Van, had rented a house in Prampi Makara in which he did not live.

He said that on July 10, 2011, he, his mother and his sisters – Nguyen Thy Thy, Sok Kimmy, Mi Ni and Den Kimheng – were celebrating Ghost Festival.

“On that day, the police burst in and searched our house, but they didn’t find anything. The police continued to the next house, which was rented by my step-mother and located separately from mine."

“The police said they found drug-processing equipment and illegal drugs at my step-mother’s house. The police did not detain her. I ask the court to release me because I did not do what I’m accused of,” Sokchea said.

Held in Prey Sar

Dara, Sokchea’s father, told the court he was being detained in Prey Sar prison at the time of the raid.

“I have two wives, but I did not know [Van’s] rented house had drug making equipment in it because I was in jail when the [raid] occurred. I ask the court to release me because I am not guilty of what I’m accused,” he said.

In April 2012, Phnom Penh Municipal Court sentenced Dara, Sokchea, Kimmy and Ni to 15 years in prison for producing and trafficking illegal drugs. Thy Thy and Kimheng were sentenced to five years in prison each for drug trafficking.

Ni died while serving her sentence.

“As stated in their report, the police who conducted the raid said Sok Dara was not present at the crime scene,” Teng Bora, Dara and Sokchea’s defence lawyer, said at the hearing.

“I ask the court to free my clients because there are many doubtful circumstances. According to Article 38 of the Constitution, any doubts are considered beneficial to the suspect.”

Nou Chantha, the defence lawyer for Sokchea’s sisters Kimmy and Kimheng, who were not present at the hearing, said Van, their step-mother, was the person who should bear responsibility for the crime. He asked the court to reduce his clients’ sentences.

‘Deliver justice’

Prosecutor Im Sophan said the suspects were celebrating a family event at a house different from the one where the drug-producing equipment and narcotics were found, while Dara was in prison when police raided the properties.

“To deliver justice and seek the real offenders, the court should reinvestigate the case and should not accuse people who were in a separate house to where [the offences were discovered],” he said.

Presiding Judge Chan Madina said the court would hand down its verdict on March 14.