PHNOM PENH, Dec. 11 (AP) - (Kyodo)
(Posted by CAAI News Media)
Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni on Friday pardoned a Thai man who was earlier this week imprisoned for espionage, a government spokesman told Kyodo News.
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said the king granted the royal pardon to 31-year-old Siwarak Chothipong at the request of his family and lawyers.
Siwarak, who was sentenced to seven years in prison on Tuesday, will be personally handed over to his mother by Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen at a ceremony to be witnessed by representatives of Thailand's opposition Pheu Thai Party, he said.
Siwarak, an engineer at Cambodia Air Traffic Services Co., which supervises air services in Cambodia, was arrested on Nov. 11, one day after ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's arrived in Phnom Penh at Hun Sen's invitation.
Siwarak was charged with collecting flight schedule of Thaksin, regarded by the Thai government as a fugitive from justice, and passing it on to a diplomat at the Thai Embassy.
Former Thai Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, a leader of the pro- Thaksin Pheu Thai Party, is expected to attend the handover ceremony. Sources who asked not to be named suggested Thaksin himself might also take part in the event.
Relations between Cambodia and Thailand, already tense due a border dispute, further deteriorated in recent weeks following the appointment of Thaksin as personal advisor to Hun Sen as well as an economic advisor to the Cambodian government.
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