Charged naval officer released to hospital

via CAAI News Media

Tuesday, 16 March 2010 15:04 Chrann Chamroeun

A NAVAL officer in Preah Sihanouk province who is facing charges stemming from an attack on two teachers and a student at the International Home of English School was released from pretrial detention on Sunday to receive medical treatment at a local hospital, prison and court officials said.

Von Nguon, the deputy chief of Preah Sihanouk provincial court, said Keo Monysoka’s family was permitted to escort him from the provincial prison in the company of a prison guard to seek treatment for high blood pressure.

“Upon the request from the court prosecutor, we allowed the family to bring him for medical care at a hospital on Sunday after seeing that he felt not well because of his blood pressure,” he said.

Keo Monysoka, deputy commander at Ream Naval Base, was arrested on Thursday and charged with causing intentional injury for allegedly attacking two teachers at the school after a 10-year-old male student there frightened his 14-year-old daughter with a turtle.

Von Nguon said that the officer, who failed to appear on two separate occasions for questioning by military police before he was detained, would remain at the hospital Monday night, but that he was expected to appear in court on Tuesday, when a verdict is to be handed down in the case.

Chan Chamroeun, an investigator for the rights group Adhoc, which received complaints from both of the teachers who were allegedly attacked, said he planned on attending the hearing to ensure that “the court procedure goes smoothly”.

“It is very important for him to have medical treatment, even though he is a prisoner,” Chan Chamroeun said, though he urged officials to make sure that Keo Monysoka did not try to skip today’s scheduled hearing.