PHNOM PENH - Jailed radio station owner Mam Sonando is prepared to testify in his own defense, as he awaits trial on charges related to sedition, a rights worker says.
Am Sam Ath, an investigator for the rights group Licadho, visited Mam Sonando in Prey Sar prison this week.
Mam Sonando, who operates Beehive Radio, one of Cambodia’s few independent broadcasters, told him he is ready to face the court but that he also wants the court to be neutral and impartial.
Cambodian courts are widely criticized as politically biased and corrupt. His defense lawyer meanwhile has requested his release on bail, claiming there is little evidence to show he led such a movement.
Mam Sonando was arrested in mid-July at his home in Phnom Penh, just days after returning from a reporting and lecture trip to the US.
“He told me he did not make a mistake and had he done wrong would not have returned to Cambodia,” Am Sam Ath said.
Am Sam Ath, an investigator for the rights group Licadho, visited Mam Sonando in Prey Sar prison this week.
Mam Sonando, who operates Beehive Radio, one of Cambodia’s few independent broadcasters, told him he is ready to face the court but that he also wants the court to be neutral and impartial.
Cambodian courts are widely criticized as politically biased and corrupt. His defense lawyer meanwhile has requested his release on bail, claiming there is little evidence to show he led such a movement.
Mam Sonando was arrested in mid-July at his home in Phnom Penh, just days after returning from a reporting and lecture trip to the US.
“He told me he did not make a mistake and had he done wrong would not have returned to Cambodia,” Am Sam Ath said.