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Graham Cleghorn….victim
of injustice in |
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Reports > 2006 |
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The Cleghorn, 58, was convicted of
raping five young employees in 2004. This year, he won the right to a
second appeal after successfully arguing that the first appeal hearing was
unfair as neither he nor his lawyers knew about it until it was over. The new appeal date has been set
for July 10. However, the defence received
another setback this week when Cleghorn's Speaking on National Radio today,
Cleghorn's New Zealand lawyer, Greg King, said the family's legal fund of
$US6500 ($NZ10,650), held in trust in Cambodia, had been almost exhausted. While the Legal Services Agency
did not provide legal aid for New Zealanders facing criminal convictions
overseas, he was exploring "other avenues". One option was to approach the
Prime Minister and Cabinet for an ex-gratia payment, such as those given as
aid after a tsunami or earthquake, he said. "The Government does have
funds available to do that and it's a matter of petitioning them," he
said. Mr King denied that such a grant
would set a precedent. "I don't think this situation
arises very often. "I think New Zealand has an
obligation under the Geneva Convention to ensure that our citizens are
accorded due legal process wherever they are in the world, and whether that
extends to providing funding in what is quite an exceptional case is open to
debate." A quote receive overnight from the
new Cambodian lawyer, Otago University trained Ock Ry, was about $US6500 in
total – including $US2000 expenses for getting witnesses to Phnom Penh. Mr King said he was waiting for
the final bill from the previous lawyer. "We don't want to go to the
Government unless we have to, or know what the shortfall is." In an interview from Prey Sar
prison outside He said the Cambodian Women's
Crisis Centre (CWCC) set him up to promote its "lucrative
fund-raising" and enable corrupt officials to lay claim to his small property
near Angkor Wat. CWCC head Oung Chanthoul has
strenuously and consistently denied she has any influence over the court. She alleged the complainants were
approached by Cleghorn's supporters with offers of money to drop their
claims. Last week, two Australians –
Clinton Rex Betterridge and Bart Lauwaert – lost their appeals against their
rape convictions, despite reports that all the witnesses against them had
recanted, saying the CWCC had coerced them into making the allegations. Mr King said it was "a
bizarre situation for someone familiar with Western-style justice
systems". He was also suspicious of the fact
that the Court of Appeal finally set a date for Cleghorn's hearing on the
very day that his lawyer quit. Cleghorn's former lawyer, Mr Borima,
also represented the other two men. Mr King said it could be
"another attempt to wash this thing under the carpet and get it dealt
with as quickly and quietly as possible". The short notice would make it
"almost impossible" for the new lawyer to get a case together, he
said. The legal team was afraid that if
they sought an adjournment, the case could be put off indefinitely. The defence will argue that the
first trial was unfair because Cleghorn was prevented from cross-examining
the complainants, and was not allowed to call seven witnesses, who said they
too were "kidnapped" by the CWCC and threatened and bribed to give
evidence against him. Mr King said no one had much
confidence that the Court of Appeal would rule in Cleghorn's favour. If the appeal failed, they could
possibly take the case to the Supreme Court, he said. He noted that the Australian
Government had been so concerned about the corruption in the Cambodian
justice system that it had refused to extradite Betterridge. He was released from an Australian
jail by ministerial decree after his appeal was thrown out by the Cambodian
Court of Appeal last week. A spokesman for the Prime
Minister's office said he was not sure whether Cabinet had ever provided
funding for a New Zealander's legal defence in an overseas jurisdiction. "However, we will look at his
letter when we receive it," he told NZPA.
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