Logging trial

Lawyers representing 16 Cambodian loggers sentenced to lengthy prison terms in Thailand have lodged an appeal, officials confirmed Thursday. Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Kuong said the appeal was filed Thursday morning, one day before the end of a one-month appeal period set by Thailand’s Ubon Rachathani provincial court. “We hope that the Thai Court of Appeal will provide justice,” Koy Kuong said. On September 23, a Thai provincial court sentenced 15 of the loggers to nine years and three months in prison and one logger to six years and two months. They had been convicted of illegal entry into Thai territory and destruction of forest after their group was caught along the disputed Cambodia-Thailand border July 23.