Tycoon requests bail for jailed wife

viaKhmer NZ

Thursday, 15 July 2010 15:02 Chrann Chamroeun

LAWYERS for the second wife of a prominent businessman who has been accused of attempted murder have requested that the Phnom Penh Municipal Court release her on bail.

The court last week charged Seng Chanda in connection with an alleged plot against Suv Chantha, the daughter of Seng Chanda’s husband, Okhna Khaou Chuly.

Suv Chantha is also the wife of Suv Chanthol, the former minister of public works and transport.

Defence lawyer Lim Vanna said the defence team wrote to the court on Monday, requesting “higher consideration” for his client’s temporary release on bail.

“My client repeatedly told me that she didn’t commit any crime like those the court prosecutor has charged her with, and she suffers from physical illnesses such as heart problems and blood pressure which have been treated in France,” Lim Vanna said.

He added that her husband, Khaou Chuly, had offered his personal assets as a guarantee that his wife does not pose a flight risk.

Lim Vanna said he was unsure whether the court would approve the bail request, but that a response must be given within five days of the date of the request.

Meanwhile, relatives of Seng Chanda continue to protest her innocence regarding the charge of attempted murder.

Huy Sok Leap, her 20-year-old daughter, described the case against her mother as “a complete slander and fabrication”, and Khaou Phallaboth, Khaou Chuly’s son, earlier this week expressed regrets that a “small internal dispute in the family” had been made public.

“I firmly believe that my father’s wife would not do such a foolish thing as to order the rape and murder of my older sister,” he said.

Investigating Judge Te Sam Ang said yesterday that he had received the request from Seng Chanda’s lawyer but had not had time to consider it.