Judge rejects activists’ appeal in Sokha 'mistress' case

Four employees from rights group Adhoc and an election official charged in connection with opposition leader Kem Sokha’s alleged sexual affair are set to languish longer behind bars after the Appeal Court yesterday threw out an appeal of their prolonged pre-trial detention.

The group, arrested in May for allegedly bribing Sokha’s purported mistress to stay quiet about the alleged affair, had appealed a decision by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to extend their pre-trial detention beyond the six-month limit stipulated under Cambodian law for a felony offence.

Speaking after yesterday’s three-hour afternoon hearing, attorney for the jailed Adhoc staffers Ky Sophal said the Appeal Court had upheld the municipal court’s decision. “The court said that the delay of detention is right because . . . the investigation of this case had not ended yet and it is a [felony] crime, so they can ask for the delay for the detention,” she said.

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