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Graham Cleghorn….victim
of injustice in |
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A New Zealander serving 20 years
in a maximum security prison in Graham Cleghorn's Australian-based
daughter, Heidi Madeley, said her father's spirits had been lifted after he
was told by his lawyer that an appeal had been scheduled for Thursday. Cleghorn, 60, formerly of He maintains his innocence and
claims he has been framed by corrupt officials who want his land on the edge
of the Angkor Wat temple complex. "It's great news, but I only
hope the judges haven't already been bribed and the appeal is a foregone
conclusion," Ms Madeley said. The New Zealand Government raised
concerns with Cambodian officials in February after an appeal was conducted -
and rejected - without Cleghorn or his lawyers' knowledge. Ms Madeley said she had been
contacted by Bangkok-based Cleghorn has accused a Cambodian
women's group of using extortion to have foreigners jailed for allegedly
sexually abusing young girls and claims he is innocent of the crimes. 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 says 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 (NZ$14,630) to the girls to say that he had
raped them. Two months ago, three Cambodian
mothers began legal proceedings against the crisis centre. They claimed their children were
kidnapped and falsely imprisoned in a bid to make them admit they had been
sexually abused by Cleghorn. 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 in the rescheduled appeal. |