Cambodian court frees 5 human rights defenders in bribery case on bail

Source: Xinhua| 2017-06-29 22:37:19|Editor: huaxia
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PHNOM PENH, June 29 (Xinhua) -- A Cambodian court on Thursday released five human rights defenders involving in a bribery case on bail after placing them in a pre-trial detention for one year and two months, a court's spokesman said.

The five persons include local rights group Adhoc's head of monitoring Ny Sokha, his deputies Nay Vanda and Yi Soksan, its senior investigator Lim Mony and former Adhoc senior official Ny Chakrya, who currently serves as a deputy secretary-general of the National Election Committee.

They were arrested on April 29, 2016 by the government's Anti-Corruption Unit and charged with bribing a witness to tell a lie. Their arrests came as a result of claims by 25-year-old hairdresser Srey Mom, an alleged mistress of opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Kem Sokha, that they gave her money to deny her sexual relationship with Kem Sokha.

Phnom Penh Municipal Court's spokesman Y Rin said the court's investigating judge Theam Chanpisith decided to end their pre-trial detention and released them on bail on Thursday.

"The court put them under supervision and placed three conditions, they cannot change their residences or leave Cambodia, and must appear in court when a summons is issued," he told Xinhua. Enditem

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