Adhoc staff make case for release at top court

Senior Adhoc member Lim Mony speaks to the press as she is escorted out of the Appeal Court in February. Hong Menea

Thu, 22 June 2017

Kim Sarom

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The Supreme Court yesterday heard the bail request of four Adhoc staffers who are opposing the extension of their pre-trial detention to 18 months, of which they have already served 14 months.

During the one-hour hearing, the four – Lim Mony, Ny Sokha, Yi Soksan and Nay Vanda – told presiding Judge Kim Sathavy and four other judges about their concerns, which include health problems and overcrowding at the prison.

Mony claimed that the health of the four have deteriorated as their detainment wears on.

“My health is weaker and weaker. When I was outside of prison I had blood pressure problems. Inside the prison, I am numb which makes it hard to sleep,” she said.

Sokha, who said he fainted in the toilet last week from low blood sugar, also complained about the prison environment.

“I live in a small cell and very crowded place. There’s no oxygen,” he said before insisting that the court release him and his colleagues. “I have five kids and they are small . . . [my wife] cannot raise them alone.”

Soksan, meanwhile, called the detention “torture”.

The four have been detained since last April on charges of bribery connected to an alleged sex scandal surrounding CNRP President Kem Sokha, a case widely believed to be politically motivated.

The court will announce its decision on June 28.