Terrorism hearing closes

SUNDAY, 19 SEPTEMBER 2010 16:21 CHRANN CHAMROEUn, by Phnom Penh Post

Photo by: Uy Nousereimony

Defrocked monk Neth Kai, 35 (wearing a mask and holding up a paper), is led into Phnom Penh municipal court on Friday.

PHNOM Penh Municipal Court has completed hearings in the case against five men suspected of organising a failed bomb plot last year that targeted the Defence Ministry and the state-run television station TV3.

All five -- who are accused of belonging to the Khmer National Unity Front, an antigovernment group also known as the Tiger Head Movement, -- face jail terms of between 20 and 30 years if convicted under the Law on Antiterrorism.

Judge Din Sivuthy said during a hearing on Friday that the presentation of evidence in the case would conclude following testimony from two witnesses called by the lawyer for one of the accused, Loeuk Bunnhean, a former adviser to the Defence Ministry.

“So today is the last hearing. We don’t need to hear any conclusions made by defence lawyers and the other accused, because we have already heard them,” he said.

“We just need the two witnesses for the accused Loeuk Bunnhean to testify.”

Uch Sophal, Loeuk Bunnhean’s lawyer, said his client should be released because the case against him hinged largely on a note he has said was part of a Defence Ministry investigation into a terrorist group, not evidence of his involvement in one. ...read the full story in tomorrow’s Phnom Penh Post or see the updated story in online from 3PM UTC/GMT +7 hours. (New York 4AM, Los Angeles 1AM, Chicago 3AM, Paris 10AM, Toronto 4AM, Sydney 6PM, Bejing 4PM, Tokyo 5PM, London 9AM, Johannesburg 10AM, Riyadh 11AM, Mumbai 1:30 PM)