Seven years after a man convicted of murder requested an appeal hearing, his case was heard yesterday.

In 2006, Kheng Cheang, 28, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in Preah Sihanouk after assisting in a murder.

On November 29, 2005, Cheang allegedly held a stick used to beat a man unconscious in an attack that saw another man stabbed to death by one of five suspects.

In 2006, the court charged Cheang with intentional murder, sentencing him to 15 years in prison and ordering him to pay $1,500 compensation.

Cheang appealed the sentence, but was made to pay $9,000 to the victims’ families.

In court yesterday, he claimed he did not know the victims and wished to be released.

“I have not committed the crime.... I have been in prison for seven years already, and I ask the court to please bring justice and free me,” he said.

The Appeal Court will deliver a verdict on October 22.