Provincial court: Suspects are powerful to put on trial in local court

Phnom Penh (15 Dec, 2011): A Cambodian provincial court’s prosecutor has asked the Justice Ministry to transfer a criminal case from its province to the Phnom Penh municipal court as the suspects are powerful which is too hard for the local court to deal with.

In his 6 December letter to Justice Minister Ang Vong Vattana and obtained by Cambodia News today, prosecutor Khut Sopheang in Mondolkiri province, northeast of Phnom Penh near a Vietnamese border, said the suspects so strong.

According to his letter, three government ministry departments’ officials have been suspected in involving with an attack on a judge of Mondolkiri province in the afternoon of 4 December, 2011.

Meng Tony, 28-year-old judge, was beaten during and after drinking in a local restaurant. Tony then was forced into a truck and then dropped about several hundred meters away from the restaurant, a local police official said. Tony now  in a hospital in Vietnam where he is getting treatment for serious injuries on skull, eyes, legs and back and now.

According to Tony’s statement released by his lawyer, Tony demands up to US$100,000 in compensation from the attackers.  (CN)