Cambodia's top court upholds life sentences for Islamic militants
1 hour, 53 minutes ago
PHNOM PENH (AFP) - Cambodia's Supreme Court on Wednesday upheld life
sentences for three Muslims convicted of plotting terror attacks
against the British embassy and a UN agency in the capital Phnom
Penh.
Cambodian Sman Ismael and Thais Abdul Azi Haji Chiming and Muhammad
Yalaludin Mading were sentenced in 2004 to life in prison by the Phnom
Penh Municipal Court for plotting attacks here between 2002 and 2003.
Despite persistent criticism of the prosecutions from rights groups, a
five-judge panel ruled that evidence proved the three had helped
Islamic militant Hambali, an alleged key member of the Al-Qaeda-linked
Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, to plan the strikes.
Hambali, whose real name is Riduan Isamuddin, re****tedly spent several
months in Cambodia before being captured in Thailand in 2003. He was
later handed over to US authorities and is now being held at the US
military base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
"There is enough evidence to prove that the three men facilitated
Hambali's group in preparing terror attacks," said judge Khim Ponn,
adding that the group had intended to strike the British embassy and
the UN children's agency UNICEF.
Hambali, an Egyptian and a Malaysian were tried in absentia in
Cambodia and sentenced to life in prison in 2004 for their roles in
the planned attacks, which Khim Ponn said were intended "to cause the
loss of many lives."
All three imprisoned men have repeatedly denied the charges against
them, with Sman Ismael saying after Wednesday's hearing that the court
only used "evidence written on a piece of paper by the United States"
to find him guilty.
"I am not a terrorist. I had no plan to kill people," he added.
The trio's lawyer, Kao Soupha, told AFP that there were no witnesses
to prove that his clients were conspiring with international
extremists, adding that the court's decision was "unacceptable."
Speaking in Thailand, the wives of the two Thai men protested the
decision, accusing the court of trying to curry favour with the
Americans.
"Our husbands went to Cambodia to work as religious teachers, hoping
that they could earn more money than in Thailand," said Asisa Haji
Chiming, 33, who has three children with husband Abdul.
"But they were accused of being terrorists and planning to stage
attacks," Asisa told AFP in Yala province in the Muslim-majority south
of Thailand.
"We have closely monitored the case for five years with high hopes
that they would receive justice and be freed, but we think the Supreme
Court has delivered a verdict just to please the US."
Asisa and Muhammad's wife, Parida, 42, said they plan to petition to
have their husbands moved to Thailand to serve their sentences, so
they can ask for a royal pardon for the two men.
JI has been blamed for the October 2002 bombings in the Indonesian
resort of Bali that killed 202 people.
Wa****ngton has lauded Cambodia for its role in the US "war on terror,"
with the country's leaders earning praise from top American police and
military officials seeking better co-operation with Cambodia's
government on anti-terror efforts.
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