Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Woman jailed for 165 years receives legal aid

Woman jailed for 165 years receives legal aid

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
A woman was sentenced​ to 165 years in jail over 9 cases of crimes. Supplied

Woman jailed for 165 years receives legal aid

The Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) on Wednesday said it had provided legal assistance to a woman who was sentenced to 165 years in prison on nine criminal counts after she pleaded for a reduction of her jail terms.

The move followed CHRC’s recent visit to Prey Sar prison.

CHRC spokesperson Chin Malin told The Post on Wednesday that the government’s rights body had provided a lawyer for Pech Sonet, 24, and also found a centre to take care of her three-year-old son.

“The Phnom Penh Municipal Court has already delivered a verdict but she appealed the sentence."

“We found an organisation to help take care of her son while her case proceeded. We need a proper place to provide her son with temporary care and education. Regarding her case, CHRC only offers legal aid on her request,” he said.

Malin said Sonet had not received a final verdict. If her charges are combined, her jail terms would amount to over 100 years. But by law, he said, a lawyer could argue mitigating circumstances so the court could consolidate her sentences before issuing a final verdict.

Chhouk Seiha, the executive director of Child Pedagogy Cambodia, said the NGO accepted her son last week and would offer him care and education.

“The law bars children from staying in jail with their mother to prevent them from witnessing life in prison,” he said.

Seiha said a baby-sitter is looking after Sonet’s son, who has learnt to sing and draw pictures.

A prison officer who asked not to be named said Sonet hailed from Kampong Chhnang province and was disowned by her parents for unspecified reasons.

She then came to find work in Phnom Penh where she met her boyfriend Taing Nimey whom she lived together without getting married until she became pregnant.

In 2015, the couple and two other friends were arrested while having a meal on the Prasith mountain just outside the capital. Police said at the time they had been following the gang for many months for their involvement in over 30 cases of robbery and murder.

Sonet’s boyfriend then resisted arrest and shot at police, prompting them to return fire in self-defence. He was shot dead, while Sonet and her companions were arrested.

While in prison, she was taken to the Japanese-owned Sunrise Hospital in Phnom Penh to deliver her baby, the officer said.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Rare plant fetches high prices from Thai, Chinese

    Many types of plants found in Cambodia are used as traditional herbs to treat various diseases, such as giloy or guduchi (Tinospora cordifolia) or aromatic/sand ginger (Kaempferia galangal) or rough cocklebur (Xanthium Strumartium). There is also a plant called coral, which is rarely grown

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • Cambodia returns 15M Covid jabs to China

    Prime Minister Hun Sen said Cambodia will return 15 million doses of Covid-19 vaccines to China for donation to other countries. The vaccines in question were ordered but had not yet arrived in Cambodia. While presiding over the Ministry of Health’s annual meeting held on