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Graham Cleghorn….victim
of injustice in |
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KI Media Three Siem Reap province mothers
have filed a complaint against the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center at the
provincial court, claiming that the NGO illegally detained three of their
daughters in 2003, officials said Sunday. CWCC Director Chanthol Oung
dismissed the claims, saying the NGO rescued the girls from the home of a
convicted rapist, and that his supporters have pressured the mothers to
complain. Han Tun, 41, Soeum Sam, 49, and
Pel Phean, whose age is not mentioned in the complaint, are seeking $1,500 in
compensation. They claim the CWCC denied their children access to a toilet
and intermittently locked them in rooms with mosquitoes inside over a period
of 15 days, according to the complaint. Their daughters are among nine
women and girls who were found during a police raid of The mothers say in their complaint
their daughters were not victims of Cleghorn. Cleghorn was convicted in 2004 of raping
five women and is currently serving a 20-year sentence. He has claimed that
the CWCC framed him. "This complaint would not
happen without some people at the back who are pushing poor people.... We
know very well who is behind it," Chanthol Oung said. She added that a team of
foreigners and Cambodians are working on Cleghorn's behalf, but declined to
name them. So Vat chief prosecutor at the
court, said the allegations will be thoroughly investigated. At the June 1 Appeals Court
hearing for Bart "Lucky" Lauwaert an Australian convicted of child
sex crimes in 2003 following a CWCC probe, nine women and girls who had
originally testified against him dropped their testimony. The females claimed the CWCC had
groomed them to lie with offers of $5,000 each. CWCC denied the allegation,
claiming a pedophile syndicate had tampered with the witnesses. The court
upheld Lauwaert's conviction.
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