Maltey named on list for shortened jail term

and Von Phors, arrested in 2008 and sentenced to 10 years for murder.

Suggestions for pardons and sentence reductions are put forward by prison officials and assessed by the interior and justice ministries.

Hun Sen last year slammed officials for letting out serious offenders, and critics have long accused the practice of being underpinned by bribery.

Reached yesterday, spokesman and deputy director of the Ministry of Interior’s General Prisons Department Nut Vesna conceded there had been instances where prisoners had paid to get their names on the list. However, he defended the process, which he said was “thorough”.

“We checked whether those prisoners really did change their behaviour and have never caused any problems in prison,” he said.

Am Sam Ath, technical coordinator for the rights group Licadho, which monitors prisons, said the premier’s criticism of the pardons process last year had brought some improvement.

“Lately, we see the number of prisoners who are pardoned has declined dramatically,” he said, noting the drop from hundreds of pardons to handfuls.

Transparency International executive director Preap Kol, however, said that a lack of transparency surrounding grants of clemency meant the process was open to abuse.

Regarding Maltey, perhaps one of the most high-profile corruption-related scalps in recent years, Kol said the shortening of his already partially suspended sentence sent the “wrong message” to the public.

“In most democratic countries around the world, they consider corruption as one the most serious crimes, especially when committed by highprofile public officials or judges,” Kol said.

“Cambodia should also treat such corruption cases as a serious crime.”