A NEW Zealand national convicted of rape will not die behind bars despite fears for his health from his supporters, according to officials at Phnom Penh’s Prey Sar prison, where the man is imprisoned.

Graham Cleghorn, 57, was sentenced in 2004 to a 20-year prison term for raping five of his employees – aged between 14 and 19 – in Siem Reap.

He now faces an extra 10 years behind bars after failing to pay reparations to the victims, as Judge Plang Chlam ruled he would serve an additional two years for each victim if he failed to pay US$2,000 to each girl’s family.

Cleghorn “is strong and healthy, and I see him almost every day in prison”, said Mong Kim Heng, director of Prey Sar prison. “He can run better than you.”

Cleghorn has said he was framed by the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Centre, which he says fabricated the story to get foreign aid money.

Chap Moun, a spokesman for the CWCC, denied the accusation and said the group has all the documents related to the case.

“It’s not just the CWCC who worked on this case, but authorities from Phnom Penh and six doctors,” he said.

“It took three months to arrest him after the first 13-year-old girl complained to us.”

He said the CWCC does not have the money to bribe people, adding that “almost no-one dared speak of the case, even the village chief”.