‘Someone has fabricated the case’

Interior Ministr y police while he was v isiting a Cham Muslim community in Chraing Chamreh II commune in t he capita l’s Russey Keo dist r ict.

Follow ing his arrest, t he police determined that Ahmad, who had been fired from his job at t he Ministr y of Socia l Affairs i n 2017 after t he a llegations came to light, was t he ringleader i n the human trafficking case through his recruitment agency Accept Group.

The police requested a prosecutor representing the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issue an arrest warrant but, before he was charged, Ahmad denied the allegations and said: “Someone has fabricated a case against me to have me arrested.”

He also denied that Ismail had ever worked for his recruitment agency.

Until his appearance in court on Tuesday, Ahmad had avoided being detained.

He had long maintained he had permission from the government, and even produced a copy of a 2005 pra kas tit led “permission to a llow [Accept Group] to select, train, send and manage Cambodian labourers to work in Saudi Arabia” as proof. The pra kas was a llegedly signed by then Minister of Labour and Vocational Training Nheb Bun Chhin.

Soeng Sen Karuna, the senior investigator at rights group Adhoc, noted that unlike his nephew, Ahmad had not been detained, despite a warrant having been issued for his arrest.

He said Ahmad’s appearance at Tuesday morning’s trial was probably because he wanted to prove he was “truly innocent”, but said the presiding judge had the discretion to decide whether someone was guilty or not.

“He can appeal if he feels t he judge’s decision is unfair to him,” he said.