Sam Sokong, a defense lawyer for former opposition party activists summoned for questioning in Battambang over illicit noodle lunches, has decried the provincial court’s handling of the cases after nine of his clients were upon arrival at the court informed their scheduled questionings had been pushed to another day.
The lawyer said that nine of his clients from the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) received letters of summons to appear at the Battambang Provincial Court on Friday morning. However, upon their arrival they were told by a court clerk that the scheduled sessions had been delayed indefinitely.
There had been no effort to inform the nine in advance, he said. All of the nine came from Moung Russei district — about 50 km from the provincial capital — and had to arrange time off work to attend the hearings and organize transportation.
“Legal procedures require that they need to be informed three to five days in advance in order for them to know [about the change] and have enough time to avoid wasting money, which impacts their day-to-day livelihoods,” Sokong said.
The nine had been summoned by deputy provincial prosecutor Keu Bunnara over claims they violated the Supreme Court verdict in November 2017 that banned the political activities of top CNRP leaders and forcibly dissolved the party. Twenty-six other activists and officials have already been questioned over the claims.
A spokesman for the court, Seng Phanith, could not be reached for comment.
(Translated and edited from the original article on VOD Khmer)
