Cleghorn

[Coss]

Stuff.co.nz

 

 

Girls take back rape allegations

18 February 2006

By MATTHEW TORBIT

 

New Zealand diplomats have intervened in the case of a Kiwi man serving 20 years in a Cambodian prison on sex charges ? after the teenage complainants all retracted their evidence against him.

 

Graham Cleghorn, 55, a former aid worker, was jailed in February 2004 and is being held in Phnom Penh's Prey Sar prison.

 

The New Zealand Government had already raised concerns at the handling of Cleghorn's trial ? which took just nine hours.

 

He was refused a translator, and denied the right to call his own witnesses and cross-examine prosecution witnesses.

 

Now diplomats have again stepped in after Cleghorn's appeal was conducted without his knowledge.

 

The unsuccessful appeal, secretly held last month in Siam Reap, did not allow Cleghorn to present written statements from all five women he was convicted of raping that state the sex crimes did not happen.

 

Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry spokeswoman Helen Tunnah said the Government had been monitoring Cleghorn's situation since he was jailed, but decided to act after news of the appeal dismissal emerged.

 

The New Zealand ambassador in Bangkok, Peter Rider, had met a representative at Cambodia's embassy this week to outline this country's "grave" concerns about Cleghorn's appeal being heard in his absence.

 

"The ambassador pointed out neither Cleghorn, his lawyer or New Zealand officials had been told the appeal was to be heard and asked for an explanation as to how this came about.

 

"It was emphasised that this had denied Mr Cleghorn the opportunity to present a case, which breached his right to a fair hearing."

 

Ms Tunnah said embassy staff were awaiting a response from Cambodian officials.

 

Cleghorn's two daughters have hired prominent Wellington lawyer Greg King, who said he was disgusted at the legal processes surrounding the case.

 

He described the appeal dismissal as a "breach of fundamental natural justice in every sense".

 

Cleghorn had pinned all of his hopes for freedom on the appeal. "And for that now to be dismissed without him knowing, without him being present, without him being represented, is abhorrent."

 

Mr King said his client was a victim of a non-government organisation, the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre, which was seeking millions of dollars of foreign funding that had been poured into Southeast Asia to stop child prostitution with Western men.

 

"Organisations have popped up to get their hands on this funding, and the way to do this is to catch people involved in the illicit sex trade, which Graham's been caught up in."

 

An excerpt from one of the five teens' statements says: "I swear on oath to help the foreigner Mr. Graham that he has never touched my body."

 

In a statement published on the Internet soon after his conviction, Cleghorn said he was framed by corrupt officials, including Siam Reap District Court judge Ten Senarong who wanted land he owned near the ancient temple Angkor Wat.

 

When he refused, Judge Senarong's sister Tan Senara, who ran the local office of the crisis centre, began approaching girls in his village offering them US$10,000 each to testify that he had molested them.

 

In October 2003 he was arrested and charged with five counts of rape, as well as unlawful possession of a weapon.

 

About the same time, an Australian and Swiss national were imprisoned in similar circumstances.

 

Bronwyn Sloan, a Cambodian-based Australian, said she visited Cleghorn in prison before he found out the appeal had been thrown out.

 

"He was holding it together but he does have health problems," she said. "But I imagine he will now be totally devastated."

 

Ms Sloan said Cleghorn arrived in Cambodia in the late 1980s and worked as an aid worker in Cambodia's northern border camps. He formerly lived in Petone.

 

She said Cleghorn's Cambodian wife Der and their six-year-old child were distraught at his treatment.

[Coss]

Kiwi 'victim of copycat sex sting'

21 February 2006

By MATTHEW TORBIT

 

A Swiss man falsely jailed on sex charges in Cambodia believes New Zealander Graham Cleghorn is a victim of the same scam that saw him spend time behind bars.

 

Cleghorn, a former aid worker and tourism operator in Cambodia, is serving 20 years in Phnom Penh's Prey Sar maximum security prison for the rape of five teenage girls. He maintains his innocence.

 

In October 2002, Swiss hotelier Rudolf Knuchel successfully defended molestation charges brought against him by the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre ? the same organisation alleged to have offered five Cambodian girls $US10,000 to accuse Cleghorn of rape.

 

Mr Knuchel, 59, has since received an apology from the Cambodian interior minister and continues to live in Siam Reap. He said he was arrested in 2000 on charges including raping two boys, trafficking women and children for prostitution, running a brothel, and drug and organ trafficking.

 

He spent 57 days in prison before his lawyer had him freed on bail before a Siam Reap District Court hearing, in which all but the molestation charges were dropped because of a lack of evidence.

 

At the 2002 trial, one of the boys confessed he had not been molested by Mr Knuchel.

 

The boy's mother took the stand and demanded $US10,000 which she said had been promised to her by the crisis centre. The judge threw the case out.

 

"The whole world falls on you. After my arrest the media turned on me around the world. It was so horrible for me and my family in Europe."

 

Mr Knuchel said he moved to Cambodia in 1990 to set up five-star hotels after working in the hotel business in Saudi Arabia.

 

He said he was targeted by the crisis centre because he was a landowner. Cleghorn also insists he was punished by corrupt officials who wanted his land.

 

Mr Knuchel said the district court judge who had been instrumental in bringing charges against him and Cleghorn had been dismissed for corruption several months ago.

 

Two Australian men were also in Cambodian prisons on sex charges after crisis centre workers approached young girls offering them $US10,000 to lay rape complaints against them, he said.

 

New Zealand's ambassador to Bangkok, Peter Rider, met representatives from Cambodia's embassy in Thailand to outline New Zealand's "grave" concerns about the legal processes surrounding Cleghorn's case.

 

Last month, Cleghorn's appeal was conducted and dismissed without his knowledge.

 

The New Zealand Government had previously raised concerns over the handling of Cleghorn's 2004 trial ? which took just nine hours.

 

Foreign Affairs and Trade Ministry spokeswomen Helen Tunnah said Cambodian officials had not yet responded.

 

Mr Rider was considering visiting Cleghorn in his Phnom Penh jail cell if Cambodian officials failed to provide a satisfactory response.

 

Denise Ritchie, founder of New Zealand-based child rights group Stop Demand, said she first heard about Cleghorn's case after he was convicted in 2004.

 

It was astonishing Cleghorn had been denied a proper appeal, she said.

 

Three other New Zealanders are currently in overseas prisons for sex crimes against children, with sentences ranging from seven to 20 years.

[MaiLuk]

Even if they come up with overwhelming evidence that these guys are imprisoned because of a scam, the help from the western diplomatic corps will be minimal. As soon as someone even mentions the phrase "sex with a child" all bets are off. You are considered a depraved pervert and who needs evidence just think of the poor child victims.

 

Its the price we pay for succumbing to hysteria about pedos.

[Coss]

Whist I agree with you, especially when you're in the wrong place at the wrong time, "In October 2002, Swiss hotelier Rudolf Knuchel successfully defended molestation charges brought against him".

One hopes there is some semblance of reason.

 

Cheer

 

Coss