A hearing at the Appeal Court to extend the prison terms of members of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s elite bodyguard unit who attacked two opposition lawmakers in 2015 has been indefinitely postponed.
Mao Hoeung, Sot Vanny and Chhay Sarith were among a dozen people who assaulted then-Cambodia National Rescue Party lawmakers Nhay Chamroeun and Kong Saphea in October 2015. They were sentenced to four years in prison in May 2016, with three years suspended, and all received promotions after they were released from prison last year.
Two of the five lawyers for the former CNRP lawmakers appeared at the Appeal Court on Friday morning and asked the judge for a delay, as not all of the lawyers had received the summons on time and they had inadequate time to prepare their case.
The court agreed to delay the hearing, but a new date was not set. The convicted bodyguards did not appear at the court.
Sam Sokong, representing the assaulted opposition lawmakers, said the prison sentence for the bodyguards was “too small”, and that instead of being convicted of intentional violence with aggravating circumstances, they should have been prosecuted for attempted murder.