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Graham Cleghorn….victim
of injustice in |
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Home > News
Reports > 2006 |
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Convicted According to an e-mail from the
Bangkok-based Although no members of the Cleghorn
family could be contacted for comment, Cleghorn's He said he would not be going up
to "I looked at it, but I'm
actually committed in court right through and obviously I don't have any
standing in a Cambodian court and it's conducted in a language I don't
understand," Mr King said. "It would only be for moral
support that I would go. I had looked at it to see if it was feasible, but
unfortunately it's not." Cleghorn, 60, formerly of He claimed he was innocent when he
appeared at the Oung Chanthol, Cambodian Women
Crisis Centre's director, dismissed Cleghorn's allegations, challenging him
to show proof of her group's financial offers to the victims. Cleghorn contends he was framed by
the non-profit group, which has provided shelters and legal counselling to
the five girls he was convicted of raping. The girls used to work as maids at
Cleghorn's house in Siem Reap province, where he had worked as a tourist
guide. He alleged that the crisis centre
had offered to pay $US10,000 ($NZ14,858) to the girls to say that he had
raped them. Two months ago it was reported
three Cambodian mothers were claiming their children were kidnapped and
falsely imprisoned in a bid to make them admit they had been sexually abused
by an unnamed foreigner, believed to be Cleghorn. The chief prosecutor for the
northern provincial court of Siem Reap, So Vat, said the women had lodged the
complaint against the staff of the Siem Reap branch of the Cambodian Women's
Crisis Centre (CWCC) on September 18 and demanded $US1500 in compensation for
the trauma caused by the alleged incident. So Vat said he believed the
foreigner was Cleghorn, who was later convicted of rape on the testimonies of
five of his legal-age former maids and sentenced to 20 years in prison in a
court case spearheaded by the CWCC. "The court will investigate
these claims (by the three mothers) because it is our job. However, this has been
a very long road. They waited a long time to make these complaints. I wonder
if outside forces are not encouraging them now," he said, but declined
to elaborate. The three girls and their mothers
named in the new complaint refused to join the case against Cleghorn and are
expected to serve as defence witnesses for him when his case is reheard. Cleghorn has alleged he has been
framed by powerful interests who want his valuable land, located on the edge
of the Angkor Wat temple complex. Earlier this year, the New Zealand
Embassy in Cleghorn remains in
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