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Graham
Cleghorn….victim of injustice in |
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The Cambodian group
accused of bribing teenage girls to falsely testify against convicted Kiwi
rapist Graham Cleghorn has broken its silence with claims he filled his home
with girls as young as 11. Cleghorn, 58, formerly
of Petone, is serving a 20-year jail term in a The centre has hit back
with claims Cleghorn and his wife procured girls from poor villagers to live
with them as house servants. It said some of the 10 servants were made to
massage Cleghorn at night and five testified that he raped them. The New Zealand
Government raised concerns about the handling of Cleghorn's 2004 trial, which
lasted just nine hours. An appeal was conducted
and dismissed without his knowledge in January. Foreign Affairs Ministry
officials have held meetings with Cambodian authorities in an effort to bring
about another appeal at which Cleghorn would be present. Cleghorn claimed he
owned valuable land adjacent to the ancient Angkor Wat ruins and a corrupt
judge who wanted the land persuaded his sister, head of the centre, to offer
teenage girls US$10,000 to press rape charges against Cleghorn. His daughter,
Heidi Madeley, said the centre's allegations were "outlandish". But the centre sent
detailed explanations of its position to a New Zealander who was advocating a
fair appeal for Cleghorn. In the e-mails, it
claimed the rape complainants were among a group of 10 girls, some as young
as 11, who lived with Cleghorn. It said police questioned staff at two
private clinics who said Cleghorn's wife had regularly brought the girls in
for injections that prevented pregnancy. "The five girls
who testified and five others who were questioned by police were poor
Cambodian girls aged 11-19 who lived with Cleghorn and his (wife), supposedly
as domestic helpers. "Why did he need
10 domestic helpers (when) one or two are enough for serving him and his
(wife)?" It also questioned the
legitimacy of Cleghorn's relationship, claiming his wife, Buot Touer, was
actually in a relationship with another man. She had come to live
with Cleghorn as a pubescent girl, the organisation claimed. Cleghorn and his wife
were arrested in October 2003 and found guilty in February 2004. Touer was
given a three-year suspended sentence for conspiracy. Mrs Madeley claimed she
had visited the complainants' village and four of them had wanted to retract
their evidence. The girls lived with
Cleghorn as employees of his shrimp farm. Many families were counting on an
alleged US$10,000 bribe from the centre to buy their way out of poverty. The organisation denied
using bribery in its work in corruption-rife "CWCC
and a few other organisations in
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