I was set up, says Kiwi freed from Cambodian rape sentence

[geovalin]

I was set up, says Kiwi freed from Cambodian rape sentence

OLIVIA WANNAN

KEVIN STENT/ FAIRFAX NZ

During his 11 years in a Cambodian prison, Graham Cleghorn yearned for places like Wellington's Owhiro Bay.

"I really can't stand to see women cry." New Zealander Graham Cleghorn is staunch in his assurances he never committed the rapes of five girls aged 15 to 17, for which he was convicted in Cambodia.

The former ambulance paramedic received a suspended sentence and a king's pardon, 11 years into a 20-year sentence, allowing him to return home to Wellington earlier this month.

Cleghorn's definition of rape was "using any force or coercion". When asked about rapes that occur in which the women do not cry, the 67-year-old says he is aware if he is hurting somebody.

MAARTEN HOLL/ FAIRFAX NZ- Cleghorn arrives at Wellington Airport after being released from his Cambodia prison earlier this month.

"Nobody goes to Asia to rape an Asian girl. You get people who say, 'You have no respect for women,' but in Cambodia and in Thailand for $20 you can virtually have anyone you want.

"The culture around sex is totally different in Asia. Just to be in the house with a Westerner, just to be part of that scene. All of the people who worked for me, I looked after them and their families."

Cleghorn, originally from Petone, moved to Thailand in 1986 to work in the refugee camps set up for people escaping from the Cambodian-Vietnamese war, he says.

"I was teaching law and human rights at the English-speaking university. I was a police officer, and law is law."

After the Paris Peace Accord ended the war in 1991, Cleghorn's Cambodian connections meant he saw a chance to make his fortune as the country rebuilt itself.

In the years leading up to his arrest in 2003, he worked as a security guard, tourist guide and owned a bar.

SUPPLIED - Cleghorn lived as a Buddhist monk in Thailand in the early 1980s.

He married a young local woman, Bun Toeur, and settled on a now million-dollar two-hectare plot farming prawns in a village near the Angkor Wattemple complex. He hired villagers as housemaids, and often paid for schooling for them and their siblings, he says.

Cleghorn has consistently said he was innocent of the rape charges that earned him a 20-year sentence, and that he was set up by a corrupt judicial system taking advantage of their asset-seizure powers.

He says the judge who oversaw his trial had a family connection to the women's refuge centre that he believes coached the girls into accusing him of rape.

"Because of the elections they [the judges] had power, but [financially] they had nothing. And they grabbed off everybody, everything and anything ... My land was what they wanted."

His claims saw him slammed with a defamation suit by the women's refuge centre in 2010. The centre did not respond to requests to comment on this article, but have previously described the accusations as "groundless".

Cleghorn says, at the time of his arrest, there were more than 50 non-government organisations in Cambodia competing with each other to catch paedophiles to boost their international donations.

"They were spreading the story that Cambodia was the paedophile capital of the world, which it wasn't. There just weren't enough people to go around. They'd already done [set up for rape] three foreigners before me."

Cleghorn says his 2004 trial was a sham. "It was over in the morning – it was about 2½ hours. The only evidence was that the girls stood up and said, 'He raped me,' and then sat down. Not times, dates, places, nothing.

"I had 14 witnesses. The judge said, 'Have you been raped?', and they said no. And he said they had nothing to add as this was a rape case."

Cleghorn says he had physical – but never sexual – contact with the five girls who testified against him.

"People are more touchy-touchy over there than they are in the West. In fact, the girls would come and give me a massage. But they'd do the same to their mother, or the father, or their uncle."

As Cleghorn appealed against his first and only court conviction, his New Zealand-based lawyer, the late Greg King, pointed out "outrageous" trial abuses, such as prosecution witnesses not being cross-examined.

Cleghorn says people who judge his guilt based on a Cambodian conviction simply do not understand how justice works, or fails to work, in third-world countries.

Independent investigator Human Rights Watch describes the country's courts as "notoriously corrupt, lack[ing] competence, and frequently [conducting] unfair trials".

"The Cambodian justice system is just a criminal gang of extortionists," Cleghorn says. "They are not interested in any evidence other than $100 American notes."

Read more: http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/asia/69677721/i-was-set-up-says-kiwi-freed-from-cambodian-rape-sentence

[Borzandy]

It's risky to live in a third world country.

[SOTIRIOS]

....sickening...glad he is out at least......

...they got what they wanted out of him......

...that is the common theme...why we are targets.......

...just take it away from a civilized, trusting foreigner......

[Kiwisailor]

He was one of the last bar-owning farang holdouts in the area at the time. General consensus around town was that he was innocent

[BuaBS]

So a bunch of fake doctors and a completely corrupt justice system in Cambodia . That will put a dent in the plans to switch to Cambodia for the ones tired of Thailand.

[sanuk711]

While I am sure--that officials took every opportunity to enrich themselves ===It is the NGOs that one has to be very careful to be around --these western women (nic named Feminnazi's) are a long way from being the white knights they would like the world to view them as...I think Cambodia is waking up to that fact & taking action.......I guess Burmese girls will be next on the list for them to save from lustful men..............

Siem Reap branch of the CWCC, which like most other Cambodian NGOs depends on foreign funding to keep going. In 2002-03, it received about $520,000 in funds from a range of foreign donors, including governments, according to documents at the Cooperation Committee for Cambodia, which facilitates information exchange between NGOs.

But critics have serious misgivings about some of the CWCC's methods, including the way it gathers evidence from potential witnesses, holds out the promise of financial compensation to victims and pays for help. The agency denies that its methods are illegal or unethical.

Three Siem Reap province mothers have filed a complaint against the Cambodian Women’s Cris­­­is Center at the provincial court, claiming that the NGO illegally detained three of their daughters in 2003, officials said Sunday. Take the case of Thouk Sam Ang. The 11-year-old claims that she was held prisoner for nearly two weeks by the CWCC and put under great pressure to testify that 57-year-old Cleghorn, a family friend, had sexually abused her. "They asked me to say that Graham had touched me. They asked again and again," Thouk claims in an interview with the REVIEW. She denies that she was touched or sexually abused, and this was borne out by medical testing. "They said that Graham and [his Cambodian wife] Toeur had already confessed . . . They said I should sue him and take all his money," adds Thouk.......http://www.grahamcleghorn.org.nz/News/2004/2004-0325_FarEasternEconomicReview_Madness.htm

[ggt]

Independent investigator Human Rights Watch describes the country's courts as "notoriously corrupt, lack[ing] competence, and frequently [conducting] unfair trials".

"The Cambodian justice system is just a criminal gang of extortionists," Cleghorn says. "They are not interested in any evidence other than $100 American notes."

In my experience...going back many years...these statements are true of most SE Asians countries...

$$$ trumps rule of law...

The young girls giving him a massage...does not help his case for innocence...IMHO...

[TheKnave]

As I was saying...

[VINCENT2012]

complicated and foolish to go somewhere and try to make business where you can not control the situation.

[Roota]

So a bunch of fake doctors and a completely corrupt justice system in Cambodia . That will put a dent in the plans to switch to Cambodia for the ones tired of Thailand.

It never fails to mystify me, how people who develop some sort of hard-on against Thailand magically decide that Cambodia, or Vietnam, or Burma or whatever simply has to be better. Welcome to SE Asia, guys.

[xxoahu22]

how did Bun Toeur (his wife) lose the land after his conviction?

[sammygood]

other article about fake docters, maybe he got a fake lawyer to represent him ?

[Alwyn]

Jeez, harsh or what.... He employed people locally, bought land with his wife and then got butt-bashed by the corrupt local scum and was convicted of the most heinous crime thinkable. All this after living as a Monk too! I hope 'recovers' from his 11 years incarceration and can move on. Then on the other hand we have 1400 young pre-teen and early teen girls that have been systematically groomed then raped in the city of Bradford and the police and courts refuse to do anything (even though the perpetrators are know) because they're worried about offending a religion. Mental.

[2alex4alex]

It's risky to live in a third world country.

Ask Mike Tyson about "rape cases" in 1-st world countries.

[thousandpercent]

This is hilarious. Where is the Thai Visa lynch mob that loves to convict everyone against whom even the hint of an accusation appears in the media? In every case where a cop says a complainant claims to have been raped, we hear "Burn in Hell," "Cut his nuts off," "I hope he gets raped...in prison." Thai Visa wingnuts had so much confidence in the government, they didn't even need to bother with hearing a defense. Until today. Now suddenly third world governments can't be trusted. Hypocrites, as usual.

Regards, Wordgoerdie

[minikev]

I think he's telling the truth.

[BuaBS]

Jeez, harsh or what.... He employed people locally, bought land with his wife and then got butt-bashed by the corrupt local scum and was convicted of the most heinous crime thinkable. All this after living as a Monk too! I hope 'recovers' from his 11 years incarceration and can move on. Then on the other hand we have 1400 young pre-teen and early teen girls that have been systematically groomed then raped in the city of Bradford and the police and courts refuse to do anything (even though the perpetrators are know) because they're worried about offending a religion. Mental.

Really ???

[Alwyn]

Jeez, harsh or what.... He employed people locally, bought land with his wife and then got butt-bashed by the corrupt local scum and was convicted of the most heinous crime thinkable. All this after living as a Monk too! I hope 'recovers' from his 11 years incarceration and can move on. Then on the other hand we have 1400 young pre-teen and early teen girls that have been systematically groomed then raped in the city of Bradford and the police and courts refuse to do anything (even though the perpetrators are know) because they're worried about offending a religion. Mental.

Really ???

Unfortunately yes. But I got it a bit wrong - the 1400 was Rotherham not Bradford. Bradford is +100. People frightened to say anything for fear of being called racist (not that Islam is a religion of course.) But here, see for yourself; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-28939089 http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-week/leading-article/9299602/rotten-borough/ It seems it's a nationwide thing as more is coming to light on an almost weekly basis

[TheSiemReaper]

Really? So all it takes to be innocent is to say you are? That will be of serious comfort to the large volumes of foreign kiddy-fiddlers in Cambodian jails. When they arrive home after deportation they can skip their second trials completely; "I SAID IT WASN'T ME." and the courts will immediately presume innocence?

It's amazing how many of the idiots screaming this guy is innocent have already decided that so many held in pre-trial conditions are guilty.

[zakk9]

Really? So all it takes to be innocent is to say you are? That will be of serious comfort to the large volumes of foreign kiddy-fiddlers in Cambodian jails. When they arrive home after deportation they can skip their second trials completely; "I SAID IT WASN'T ME." and the courts will immediately presume innocence?

It's amazing how many of the idiots screaming this guy is innocent have already decided that so many held in pre-trial conditions are guilty.

Maybe you should do some reading of all the documentation available around this case.

[BuaBS]

Jeez, harsh or what.... He employed people locally, bought land with his wife and then got butt-bashed by the corrupt local scum and was convicted of the most heinous crime thinkable. All this after living as a Monk too! I hope 'recovers' from his 11 years incarceration and can move on. Then on the other hand we have 1400 young pre-teen and early teen girls that have been systematically groomed then raped in the city of Bradford and the police and courts refuse to do anything (even though the perpetrators are know) because they're worried about offending a religion. Mental.

Really ???

Unfortunately yes. But I got it a bit wrong - the 1400 was Rotherham not Bradford. Bradford is +100. People frightened to say anything for fear of being called racist (not that Islam is a religion of course.) But here, see for yourself; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-28939089 http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-week/leading-article/9299602/rotten-borough/ It seems it's a nationwide thing as more is coming to light on an almost weekly basis

The "REALLY" was reffering to the highlighted in red because I didn't want to cut away the rest of your post.

You live a charmed life if you think that it is "the most heinous crime thinkable" .

[thaiturkey]

SIMILAR EXPERIENCE IN THAILAND

I had a similar experience in Thailand, also aimed at stealing my land.

When I thwarted them in the Civil Court, they filed a Criminal charge for Perjury, and to make matters worse, the Court Summons was stolen, so that I was not aware of the charge, and unable to respond, leaving me liable to immediate arrest.

Had I not been able to raise 100,000Bht Bail at short notice, I would have spent months in jail, and ended up penniless.

The scumbag giving free advice on this site was the one who set me up.

I managed to salvage my assets in the end, but it was too close for comfort.

[Alwyn]

Jeez, harsh or what.... He employed people locally, bought land with his wife and then got butt-bashed by the corrupt local scum and was convicted of the most heinous crime thinkable. All this after living as a Monk too! I hope 'recovers' from his 11 years incarceration and can move on. Then on the other hand we have 1400 young pre-teen and early teen girls that have been systematically groomed then raped in the city of Bradford and the police and courts refuse to do anything (even though the perpetrators are know) because they're worried about offending a religion. Mental.

Really ???

Unfortunately yes. But I got it a bit wrong - the 1400 was Rotherham not Bradford. Bradford is +100. People frightened to say anything for fear of being called racist (not that Islam is a religion of course.) But here, see for yourself; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-28939089 http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-week/leading-article/9299602/rotten-borough/ It seems it's a nationwide thing as more is coming to light on an almost weekly basis

The "REALLY" was reffering to the highlighted in red because I didn't want to cut away the rest of your post.

You live a charmed life if you think that it is "the most heinous crime thinkable" .

ah, I see, completely went down the wrong route in my reply. Yes, I do think it's the worst crime possible and I have my reasons for thinking that way obviously. I've worked with hundreds and hundreds of women who have suffered rape and the thing is, it never goes away. Apart from the physical assault and associated pain etc the psychological impact never goes away. Fears that were not there before. Fear to of men in general, fear of leaving the house, questions of their own self-worth - if there's a pregnancy involved it's even worse. Then people doubting the story! She was dressed to get raped, she's a slut, etc. For the rapist, no punishment is enough, imprisonment is not enough, most people would like for rapists to get raped in prison on a daily basis (and rightly so) and if the victim is a kid, then the revenge wishes multiply. A lot of girls to shout 'rape' when there wasn't one and a lot of innocent people go to prison for it. This ends up with them losing their family, their friends, job etc and more or less being an outcast for the rest of their life, all with the knowledge they did nothing. You tell me what could be worse? Murder? Nah, the person's dead and people die at some point. Their loved ones will grieve n=and then get over it (mostly). I for one, cannot think of a worse crime. Just my opinion of course.

[watcharacters]

SIMILAR EXPERIENCE IN THAILAND

I had a similar experience in Thailand, also aimed at stealing my land.

When I thwarted them in the Civil Court, they filed a Criminal charge for Perjury, and to make matters worse, the Court Summons was stolen, so that I was not aware of the charge, and unable to respond, leaving me liable to immediate arrest.

Had I not been able to raise 100,000Bht Bail at short notice, I would have spent months in jail, and ended up penniless.

The scumbag giving free advice on this site was the one who set me up.

I managed to salvage my assets in the end, but it was too close for comfort.

Quite a few posters offer free advice.

Name and shame?

[thaiturkey]

SIMILAR EXPERIENCE IN THAILAND

I had a similar experience in Thailand, also aimed at stealing my land.

When I thwarted them in the Civil Court, they filed a Criminal charge for Perjury, and to make matters worse, the Court Summons was stolen, so that I was not aware of the charge, and unable to respond, leaving me liable to immediate arrest.

Had I not been able to raise 100,000Bht Bail at short notice, I would have spent months in jail, and ended up penniless.

The scumbag giving free advice on this site was the one who set me up.

I managed to salvage my assets in the end, but it was too close for comfort.

Quite a few posters offer free advice.

Name and shame?

Ask the Lawyer

[MaeJoMTB]

You tell me what could be worse? Murder? Nah, the person's dead and people die at some point. Their loved ones will grieve n=and then get over it (mostly). I for one, cannot think of a worse crime. Just my opinion of course.

Murdering/abducting someone's children, blinding someone, amputating someone's arms or legs, breaking someone's neck while DUI .......... the list is endless.

[BuaBS]

You tell me what could be worse? Murder? Nah, the person's dead and people die at some point. Their loved ones will grieve n=and then get over it (mostly). I for one, cannot think of a worse crime. Just my opinion of course.

Murdering/abducting someone's children, blinding someone, amputating someone's arms or legs, breaking someone's neck while DUI .......... the list is endless.

Thanks , you beat me to it.

[Alwyn]

You tell me what could be worse? Murder? Nah, the person's dead and people die at some point. Their loved ones will grieve n=and then get over it (mostly). I for one, cannot think of a worse crime. Just my opinion of course.

Murdering/abducting someone's children, blinding someone, amputating someone's arms or legs, breaking someone's neck while DUI .......... the list is endless.

They're all equally bad. But as you know (but maybe don't understand) I was referring to the Kiwi bloke being accused when not (allegedly) guilty. As an accused would you rather be accused of rape or murder if you had done nothing? Semantics I know, and as I said, just my opinion.

[Alwyn]

Jeez, harsh or what.... He employed people locally, bought land with his wife and then got butt-bashed by the corrupt local scum and was convicted of the most heinous crime thinkable. All this after living as a Monk too! I hope 'recovers' from his 11 years incarceration and can move on. Then on the other hand we have 1400 young pre-teen and early teen girls that have been systematically groomed then raped in the city of Bradford and the police and courts refuse to do anything (even though the perpetrators are know) because they're worried about offending a religion. Mental.

Really ???

Unfortunately yes. But I got it a bit wrong - the 1400 was Rotherham not Bradford. Bradford is +100. People frightened to say anything for fear of being called racist (not that Islam is a religion of course.) But here, see for yourself; http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-28939089 http://www.spectator.co.uk/the-week/leading-article/9299602/rotten-borough/ It seems it's a nationwide thing as more is coming to light on an almost weekly basis

The "REALLY" was reffering to the highlighted in red because I didn't want to cut away the rest of your post.

You live a charmed life if you think that it is "the most heinous crime thinkable" .

ah, I see, completely went down the wrong route in my reply. Yes, I do think it's the worst crime possible and I have my reasons for thinking that way obviously. I've worked with hundreds and hundreds of women who have suffered rape and the thing is, it never goes away. Apart from the physical assault and associated pain etc the psychological impact never goes away. Fears that were not there before. Fear to of men in general, fear of leaving the house, questions of their own self-worth - if there's a pregnancy involved it's even worse. Then people doubting the story! She was dressed to get raped, she's a slut, etc. For the rapist, no punishment is enough, imprisonment is not enough, most people would like for rapists to get raped in prison on a daily basis (and rightly so) and if the victim is a kid, then the revenge wishes multiply. A lot of girls to shout 'rape' when there wasn't one and a lot of innocent people go to prison for it. This ends up with them losing their family, their friends, job etc and more or less being an outcast for the rest of their life, all with the knowledge they did nothing. You tell me what could be worse? Murder? Nah, the person's dead and people die at some point. Their loved ones will grieve n=and then get over it (mostly). I for one, cannot think of a worse crime. Just my opinion of course.

You want MORE rapes? You actually promote and advocate rape? You're a sicko.

How on Earth do you reach that beer-sodden conclusion. I just said rape is THE worse crime in my opinion so how you jump from that to advocating and promoting rape is beyond me. Please, put down your Chang and tell me how you got there?

[MaeJoMTB]

You tell me what could be worse? Murder? Nah, the person's dead and people die at some point. Their loved ones will grieve n=and then get over it (mostly). I for one, cannot think of a worse crime. Just my opinion of course.

Murdering/abducting someone's children, blinding someone, amputating someone's arms or legs, breaking someone's neck while DUI .......... the list is endless.

They're all equally bad. But as you know (but maybe don't understand) I was referring to the Kiwi bloke being accused when not (allegedly) guilty. As an accused would you rather be accused of rape or murder if you had done nothing? Semantics I know, and as I said, just my opinion.

If a bunch of guys grabbed me, and said 'so we gonna rape you or cut your little finger off and then let you go', I would choose rape.

I'm thinking realistically a woman would say the same, certainly most Asian women would, we're talking sexually experienced women not virgins.

Fate worse than death? I think not.

Feminist, PC, BS.

Accuse me of rape or murder?

Rape, I have a much better chance of getting off.