Friday, 15 May 2009

Officials Deny Judicial Student Bribery

By Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
14 May 2009

Senior officials, students and two professors at the Royal Academy for Judicial Professions denied on Thursday VOA Khmer reports of widespread bribery in the seating of the nation’s judges.

Numerous students at the academy told VOA Khmer they will have to pay tens of thousands of dollars to unnamed senior officials in order to pass exams and be seated in courts across the country.

VOA Khmer is currently airing a multi-part series on judicial corruption.

“The broadcasting of VOA is unbalanced,” Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan told reporters Thursday, at a press conference where six students and two professors also denied the reports.

Cambodia’s courts continually face charges they are corrupt and biased toward rich businessmen or powerful government officials. Critics say the deep-rooted corruption of the courts threatens the country’s stability.

The allegations of the students, who all spoke on condition of anonymity out of personal security concerns, come as the Khmer Rouge tribunal wrestles with its own allegations of kickbacks.

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