South African man in Cambodian jail

By Virginia Keppler

Pretoria (Beeld)- A 27-year-old South African has already spent 11 days in a Cambodian prison, charged with culpable homicide after the death of his friend in a jet-ski accident.

André Bester of Newlands in Pretoria, was arrested shortly after Paul Hutchins of Cape Town died in a jet-ski accident in the ocean at Sihanoukville in Cambodia.

Bester and Hutchins were both on jet-skis when the two collided and Hutchins died. Bester wasn't injured.

André's father, Johan Bester, told Beeld from Cambodia that the accident happened on September 18.

Playing around

"André and his friend (Hutchins) were playing around with their jet-skis, and the next moment, they were in an accident.

"The police immediately arrested André and locked him up, charged with culpable homicide. He's been in jail in Sihanoukville since then," said Johan.

Johan said his son and Hutchins both worked in Cambodia's forestry industry.

"I flew to Cambodia on Sunday to go and support my son. Today (Monday) I spoke to legal representatives and tomorrow (Tuesday) we'll try to submit a bail application so that André can at least get out of prison for now," he said.

He did not want to comment on the circumstances in which his son is being detained, and said he would discuss that at a later stage.

Difficult

"At this stage I can only say that André is okay. It's difficult, especially since his friend is dead and he's locked up. I've seen him every day since I arrived in Cambodia."

Johan said Hutchins's family were on their way to Cambodia on Monday to fetch his remains and bring them back to South Africa.

"From what I understand, his mother is on her way already."