HRTF PRESS RELEASE – YORM BOPHA’S BAIL APPEAL IN SUPREME COURT DENIED

Yorm Bopha appeared on March 27, 2013 before the Supreme Court to appeal from the denial of bail by the Court of Appeal in November 2012. Around 100 community activists from Boeung Kak Lake and other communities, media and NGO gathered outside to support Yorm Bopha and wait for the Court to grant her a release on bail.

During the brief hearing of yesterday, Yorm Bopha explained again what occurred during the incident alleged against her – that her only involvement was hear noises of a fight, go to look, then return home.  Ten minutes later, a man pointed to her and accused her of hitting him, and accused her brothers of being involved.  She did not know the man, and her brothers do not even live there.  She asked that the proper suspect to be found.  In response to the Court’s questions, Yorm Bopha stated that there were 3 reasons to grant her bail:  her family; her health; and that she is willing to accept court-imposed conditions, and will appear in court when required.

After a long recess, the Court returned to state that, after hearing Yorm Bopha and the arguments from both sides, the decision of the Court of Appeal was upheld. The Court also commented that there was no medical evidence of Yorm Bopha’s condition.

The crowd of supporters outside the courtroom expressed their anger and frustration, screaming and burning a scale of justice replica, before marching to the Royal Palace to call for the King to intervene in the case.

HRTF would like to condemn the Supreme Court’s decision to keep Yorm Bopha in prison. M. Sia Phearum, director of HRTF said, “I feel really disappointed by the Supreme Court’s decision. We had hope the Court would judge her fairly and independently but in reality we could see yesterday that the court lacked of strong evidences against her and didn’t based their decision on lawful facts. As example of the injustice of the situations, in the case of Chhouk Bandit, he was witnessed shooting three women, but remained free, whereas Bopha is denied to be release on bail again”.

Yorm Bopha’s continued detention on the basis of dubious charges and conviction perpetuates the serious violation of her human rights, and does not comply with principles of Cambodian law.   As there is no date set for the appeal from her conviction, this intolerable situation could continue for some time.  The longer Yorm Bopha remains in prison, the more serious the violation of her human rights. HRTF would like to urge the Appeal Court to set the date for Yorm Bopha’s hearing and to ensure the fair and independent processing of this case in front of the judiciary system.

Media Contacts:

Ms LONG Kimheang, Senior Communication Officer, HRTF, +855 60 470 480