The Appeal Court is set to hear the case of a 24-year-old woman who was sentenced to 164 years imprisonment in connection with killings and robbery offences on Friday.

Khieu Tola, the defence lawyer provided by the Cambodian Human Rights Committee (CHRC) to represent the convict, told The Post on Thursday that the Appeal Court is scheduled to hear Pech Sonet’s case on 26 July.

“Sonet was involved in nine cases of robberies and killings. But of the nine cases, she was sentenced to 20 years in jail for one, while in the eight other cases, she was sentenced to 18 years in jail for each,” he said.

Another Defence Lawyer Lim Chanlida told The Post on Thursday that the reason she had acted as a defence lawyer for Sonet is that CHRC president Keo Remy was seeking a volunteer to defend Sonet.

When asked how hard it is to defend a woman sentenced to more than 100 years in jail, she said she had never handled such a case before. However, she has previously helped defend several cases where the accused was sentenced to 15 years in jail.

“But there are no real difficulties because as a defence lawyer, we have to try our best to help the accused. I did not receive any profits from the case, but I am willing to defend Sonet,” she said.

On Friday, the Appeal Court will cite one case to be heard, whereas eight other cases will be heard by the Appeal Court in August, Chanlida said.

Last month, the Ministry of Justice, the Supreme Court and the CHRC, visited Sonet at Prey Sar prison. Following their visit, they arranged to engage a defence lawyer for her to pave the way for the case to be heard.

Speaking to The Post last month, CHRC spokesperson Chin Malin said the committee had just thought of the future of her three-year-old son, but it would not coordinate her cases at the courts.

The committee had found an organisation to help care for her son while her nine cases were proceeding in the hands of the court. Leave the cases to the Supreme Court to settle them following legal procedures, he added.