Cambodia asks Finland to reconsider visa for convicted police chief

Cambodian deputy priminister Hor Namhong Thursday urged the Finish government to reconsider its decision to issue visa for former phnom penh police chief Heng Pov, who was sentenced to 18 years in jail in absentia in September for masterminding to kill a judge.

" We are very regrettable indeed that criminals who fabricated claims against the Royal Government of Cambodia to masquerade their actual crimes have gain the protection from Finland," said Hor, who is also Minister foreign affiairs and international cooperation.

"therfore, in the future, it is futile to talk under variou framworks about cooperation to combat and prevent organized crimes, but instead we should talk about nurturing them," he said. This was the second times that the Finnish government allowed Cambodian criminals to stay and it should reconsider what it had done so far for Cambodia, he added.

"Once they arrived in Finland, these criminals will spread defamation against the Royal Government of Cambodia, just like the cases of Sok Yeoun and Heng Pov," he said. "We already sent a letter to foreign affairs of Finland, Malaysia's court and the Singaporean authorities about Heng Pov's crime, he added.

After his legal team negotiated with the Finnish government for two months and under went independent review, the 49 years old, one-legged former capital police chief recieved his visa entry to Finland, which significantly increased his chance avoiding deportation.

Hing Pov, also serving as persoal advisor to prime minister Hun Sen and under-secretary of state at interior ministry, managed to fled oversea in July 23, but fail to seek asylum in Singapore and Malaysia. he has been detained in Malaysia since Oct. 3 for overstaying his entry pass.

The Cambodian court believed that he was responsible for the murder of Phnom penh judge Sk Sathamony, while a press released from ministry of foreign affairs and international cooperation insisted that he was involved in six other cases including illegal confinment, murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, and illegal weapon possession and usage.

In addition, So Yeoun, an active member of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, was accused of staging rocket attack on the motorcade of Hun Sen when he attended the ceremony of the establishment of the first governemt of Cambodia in 1998, He then fled to Thailand and finally secure his stay in Finland.