January 7 sees King grant clemency to 245 inmates
FOR this year’s January 7 Victory over Genocide Day, King Norodom Sihamoni granted sentence reductions to more than 200 inmates, although no pardons were issued.
Justice ministry secretary of state Kim Santepheap announced on January 7 that the King, at the request of Prime Minister Hun Manet, granted clemency to 245 inmates, including 28 women.
A total of 178 inmates (18 women) have their sentences reduced by three months, while 57 inmates (nine women) get six less months than originally sentenced and eight (one woman) receive a nine-month reduction.
One prisoner has one year stricken from their sentence, while one has a life sentence commuted to 30 years in prison.
“The committee which reviewed the cases has not pardoned any inmates,” he said.
Santepheap stressed that the review committee had not considered any requests by prisoners convicted of drug offences or violent crimes, those who had offended against their own spouses, family members or public officials, and those who had previously received clemency.
Also not considered were rape cases committed on juveniles under the age of 14 or people living with mental or physical disabilities, or gang rapes.
Nuth Savana, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Prisons (GDP), explained that the possibility of a reduction in sentences encourages prisoners to rehabilitate themselves.
He said a positive change of attitude, acknowledgement of guilt and excellent behaviour during their detention are the criteria the review committee evaluates.
“Although the number of sentence reductions is not as high as we would like, it is in line with the government’s guidelines. The justice ministry has established a working group to reduce the congestion of court cases and reduce overcrowding in prisons,” he said.
He added that those who allege that the government ignores – or does not offer sentence reductions to – political prisoners or activists lack a clear understanding of the legal process.
Santepheap explained that mitigation or amnesties are only possible if the final verdict from the court has already been handed down. For the prosecutor to declare the verdict final, prisoners must first acknowledge their guilt and change their attitudes.
He noted that there are no such things as political convictions, but only perpetrators who were once politicians.
Am Sam Ath, operations director at rights group LICADHO, noted that the number of pardons and sentence reductions appears to have reduced since the reaction of former Prime Minister Hun Sen a few years ago.
He also noted some past irregularities regarding pardons or sentence reductions in drug-related crimes, but acknowledged that this situation has improved.
“As long as the mechanism is transparent, it is a good way to reduce overcrowding in prisons and facilitate good behaviour,” he said.
“Despite criticism from the families of political, environment or union activists, they do not seem to appear on the list of pardons and sentence reductions,” he added.
He said that according to court indictments, there were no political prisoners, but believed that some convicts were convicted for political activities or human rights issues. “As a civil society organisation, LICADHO would like the government to reconsider this matter.”
During last year’s Water Festival, the King granted 537 sentence reductions, with a pardon being awarded to a woman prisoner on a humanitarian basis, due to her diagnosis with final stage cancer.