Tuesday, December 16, 2014

# 70 Judge Keo Mony & other Phnom Penh Municipal Court judges should be sacked if they refuse to abide by the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure


Why can’t the Ministry of Justice intervene when judges such as Keo Mony refuse to act in accordance with the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure? What is the point of having a Minister if he cannot see to it that judges within his Ministry obey Cambodian law?
Mu Socua is right, whilst in this instance there clearly is a political element to Judge Keo Mony’s decision, I have had the same experience at his hands. In my case it was clear that Judge Keo Mony’s finding me guilty of ‘threatening to dishonor Citipointe church’ (an NGO guilty of the illegal of children from their materially poor families) was not based on any facts or evidence and nor was I invited to attend the court hearing – despite having been talking with Keo Mony just a couple of hours beforehand. See two letters below.
Judge Keo Mony and others in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court who do not conduct their courts in accordance with the Cambodian Code of Criminal Procedure should be sacked and replaced by judges who respect and act in accordance with Cambodian law.
Judge Keo Mony
Phnom Penh Municipal Court
Criminal Case number 3730                                                                                      

3rd April 2014

Dear Judge Keo Mony

When I came to your office yesterday morning I knew nothing at all about the accusations made against me by Citipointe church. I did not know when my case was to be heard. No-one from the court had informed me.

You kindly gave me copy of  the original summons that was never delivered to me at my hotel. The proposition that I threw a bowl at the policeman who tried to serve me with the summons, as I read in this morning’s newspaper, is nonsense. If I had done so, the policeman would have been quite justified in arresting me. He did not.

I had the Summons translated into English but did not receive this until after 2 pm yesterday. The Summons gave no indication of what time I was supposed to be in court. When you asked me for both of my phone numbers and for my address I understood that you would be making contact with me regarding this case. It seems that there has been a misunderstanding.

I did not find out about the court hearing until 6pm last night when a journalist contacted me and asked for my response to the verdict.

Could you please provide me with a copy of all the documents I am entitled to in relation to this matter. If the newspapers can be in possession of these documents I, as the defendant, should also be provided with them.

best wishes

James Ricketson

Mr Keo Mony
Prosecuting Judge
Phnom Penh Municipal Court                                                                       

17th April 2014

Dear Judge

re Case Number 3730

Citipointe church versus James Ricketson

I would like to place on record the following:

(1) I was not provided with any warrant or summons to let me know that I was due to attend your court on 12th March.

(2) I only heard about the 12th March court case the following day when it was pointed out to me by a journalist that I had failed to attend.

(3) On 2nd April I attended your office at around 10 am and spoke at length with you about the failure of the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to provide me with a summons in relation to the 12th March hearing.

(4) You arranged for me to be provided with a copy of the summons. You asked me for my address and phone numbers and led me to believe that you would make contact with me later regarding my case.

(5) Shortly after I received the summons I took it to be translated from Khmer into English.

(6) I received an English translation of the summons mid-afternoon of 2nd. April.

(7) At 6pm on 2nd April I received a phone call from a journalist to ask why I had not appeared in your court at 2pm. I replied that despite speaking with you at length during the morning you had failed to tell me that I was due in court at 2pm.

(8) When I spoke with you the following day (3rd April) in your office you eventually agreed to allow me to read through and copy out the accusations leveled at my by Citipointe church. You also informed me that I could appeal your sentence and file a complaint against Citipointe church.

(9)  It was not until one day after you sentenced me to a two year suspended jail sentence that I learned I had allegedly ‘threatened to dishonour’ Citipointe church.  It was not until 3rd April that I learned I had allegedly thrown a bowl at the police who tried to serve me with a summons. Did any police testify that this was so?

(10) I do not want to appeal the conviction 2nd April conviction. I do not consider it to be valid and I do not wish to waste my time and money coming back to Cambodia again to go to court.
(11) I will be making an application to the Supreme Court of Queensland in Australia to be provided with copies of the MOUs that Citipointe believes gave the church the right to remove Rosa and Chita from their family in 2008. I am going to such lengths because the Phnom Penh Municipal Court refuses to ask the church to prove that removed the girls in accordance with Cambodian law.

(12)  The Phnom Penh Municipal Court clearly does not care whether the church’s actions in removing Rosa and Chita were legal or illegal.

(13) The Cambodian government and the Cambodian legal system do not care if foreigner NGOs come to your country, illegally remove the children of poor parents and exploit them to make profits for the NGO. The Cambodian government and the Cambodian legal system does not care if families are broken up and if the children of Buddhist parents are forced to become Christians.

Why do you allow these human rights abuses to occur?

When I am in possession of the 2008 and 2009 MOUs I will send them to the court. They will reveal that Citipointe had no legal right to remove the girls in the manner they did. When the truth is revealed by the MOUs I expect my conviction to be overturned and for Citipointe to be charged with the ‘illegal removal’ of Rosa and Chita in 2008 in accordance with Cambodian law.

yours sincerely

James Ricketson

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