FM: Cambodia to help Veera, Ratree

Thai Patriots Network coordinator Veera Somkwamkid (left) and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaiboon

Bangkok Post 27/09/2011

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen has shown an intention to help Thai Patriots Network coordinator Veera Somkwankid and his secretary Ratree Pipattanapaiboon get a royal pardon, Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul said in New York on Tuesday.

Mr Surapong said the matter was raised for discussion with Hun Sen when Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and he visited Cambodia on Sept 15.

He said the Cambodian prime minister said he would help by reducing the jail terms handed down on them by the Phnom Penh Court to enable them to finally meet a requirement to seek a royal pardon.

Steps must be taken before reaching that stage but it was unlikely to be too long before they were freed because Hun Sen had expressed his intention to help, said the foreign minister.

Mr Surapong said this move to help Veera and Ratree out under a royal pardon was not the same as that mentioned by Justice Minister Pracha Promnok on Monday.

Pol Gen Pracha said the two could not be freed early under a presoner exchange programme, in which a prisoner can be sent home after having served one-third of the sentence first and the case must not concern national security.

Veera and Ratree were among the seven Thais arrested by Cambodian authorities for illegally crossing the border into Cambodia on Dec 29 last year. Five of them confessed to the illegal entry charges, were sentenced to jail terms, and released shortly after some time in jail.

Veera and Ratree were additionally charged with spying. The court sentenced Veera and Ratree to eight years and six years in jail after finding them guilty as charged.