Cambodia dismisses Finland's appeal for fair trial for detained former police chief

The Associated Press
Friday, December 22, 2006

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia : Cambodia's government on Friday dismissed Finland's appeal for a full investigation and fair trial for an ex-police chief, jailed for orchestrating a murder after four months on the run.Heng Peo is currently serving his 18-year jail sentence for masterminding the murder of a judge in April 2003.He was deported from Malaysia on Thursday, despite his repeated claims that he was wrongly accused.

In a statement Thursday, Finland's Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja appealed "to the Cambodian authorities to carry out a full investigation into the charges against former police chief Heng Peo ... and to guarantee him a fair trial."

Khieu Thavika, a spokesman for Cambodia's Foreign Ministry, said at a news briefing Friday that Tuomioja's appeal was unnecessary. He said the Cambodian court had already conducted a complete investigation before convicting Heng Peo of orchestrating the murder.
"Finland ought not be too concerned about this," Khieu Thavika said. "Heng Peo is not a case for political asylum. He is a criminal."

Heng Peo first fled to Singapore in July before he was arrested for overstaying his visa. Singapore authorities later arrested him and handed him over to Malaysia, where he was detained for a similar offense.
Earlier this month, Finland granted him a visa to travel there due to fears that he might face rights violations if deported to Cambodia. The visa does not allow him to travel elsewhere in the European Union.But Heng Peo lost his bid for asylum in Finland Thursday, when Malaysia's Appeals Court overturned an earlier High Court ruling that ordered his deportation to Singapore. He had hoped to travel from Singapore to safety in Finland.

Heng Peo was flown to Cambodia just after the hearing, and was sent to prison to begin serving his sentence.Heng Peo was the police chief in Cambodia's capital, Phnom Penh, until 2005, when he was promoted to become an adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen. He also served as an undersecretary in the Interior Ministry.

He is also accused of links to the killing of a Singaporean man in Cambodia, and to failed murder attempts against a newspaper publisher, an electricity authority official and the national military police chief.