Tuesday's conviction of Thai engineer Sivarak Chutipong on a charge of espionage by the Cambodian court had been expected. The defendant, an employee of Thai-owned Cambodia Air Traffic Services (CATS), was sentenced to seven years in prison and fined 10 million riel (82,500 baht) after he was found guilty of stealing information relevant to deposed former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's flight plan to Cambodia (which was deemed a national secret) and passing it on to a Thai diplomat based in Phnom Penh.
The Democrat Party's advisory chairman Chuan Leekpai, while declining to comment on the court's verdict since he did not want to be seen as showing disrespect towards the Cambodian judiciary, said he was surprised that ``someone'' (whom he did not identify) had started talking about plans to seek a royal pardon from Cambodia for the defendant a day or two before the court was due to deliver its verdict on Tuesday.
Whether the Cambodian court's verdict in this particular case was politically influenced or not will certainly be debated and the argument will depend on each individual's opinion. But in the eyes of Human Rights Watch, the prominent human rights advocacy group, the track record of Cambodia's judicial system in general on several core human rights issues _ including judicial independence and rule of law, freedom of expression, prisons and arbitrary detention, forced evictions and land confiscation _ leaves much to be desired.
In a recent summary report pertaining to judicial process and rule of law issued to the Human Rights Council in Geneva for periodic review, which is conducted once every four years, Human Rights Watch stated that ``Cambodia's courts remain highly politicised and under government control. All key judges are Cambodian People's Party members, including the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. The Supreme Council of Magistracy, established to ensure judicial independence, remains politicised and ineffectual, as does the Constitutional Council, which is mandated to safeguard the constitutionality of legislation. The government has yet to pass a new criminal law, anti-corruption law, or other legislation critical to the protection of human rights.''
To deal with the flaws in the Cambodian judiciary, Human Rights Watch recommends a reformation of the Supreme Council of Magistry as an impartial body. It also suggested that the independence of the Ministry of Justice be safeguarded so that it can implement its constitutional mandate to ensure proper judicial independence.
The controversial trial and conviction of Mr Sivarak has again put the Cambodian justice system in the international spotlight. But as far as the victim is concerned, the sad truth is that he is a mere pawn caught in the middle of a vicious political ball game between the Democrat-led government and Thaksin, with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen openly taking the latter's side. Therefore, it should not be surprising if the victim's mother, Mrs Simarak na Nakhon Phanom, has opted to seek help from the deposed former prime minister and Puea Thai chairman General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, instead of the Thai Foreign Ministry in seeking a royal pardon from Cambodia for her convicted son.
For now, it does not really matter which side will eventually get the credit for resolving this unfortunate human drama so long as the victim is brought home. What really matters and is indeed very disturbing, is that the ongoing political feud has become regionalised and gone many steps too far.
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