‘The law follows politics’. Camboleaks

On an afternoon in early April last year, two CPP-appointed officials from the Ministry of Justice met with representatives of the Cambodia National Rescue Party to plan the release on bail of five jailed opposition members and other imprisoned activists.

They were on orders from the very top.

The officials were alone in the restaurant at Phnom Penh’s Landscape Hotel as the CNRP representatives arrived, according to multiple sources interviewed for this article.

The newcomers sat down, introductions were made and pleasantries were exchanged. Coffee was on the table. Someone ordered a plate of vegetables.

Ministry Secretary of State Koeut Rith spoke first, recalled one attendee.

“We talked about the procedure, about how the judge can release the CNRP activists before Khmer New Year,” another person at the meeting told the Post.

“I knew clearly [the prisoners] would be released [on bail].”

The bail application, the sixth for some in the group, was submitted an hour or so after the Landscape Hotel meeting, as per Rith’s instructions.

It was granted three days later.

LONG AND INTERESTING ARTICLE HERE

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/law-follows-politics