Patrick Devillers, a witness in a high-profile Chinese murder case in August, has returned to Cambodia.
PHNOM PENH - Patrick Devillers, a witness in a high-profile Chinese murder case in August, has returned to Cambodia, neighbors and officials say.
Devillers left the country in July after a lengthy detention in order to provide testimony in the murder trial of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai.
Gu was a business associate of Devillers, who was detained by Cambodian authorities in June and ultimately agreed to travel to China.
Gu was given a suspended death sentence Aug. 20 for the murder of Briton Neil Haywood.
A security guard in front of Devillers home in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Keng Kong commune said he had seen the Frenchman on both Saturday and Sunday.
“I saw him last evening but I don’t know what time,” the guard said.
Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said Devillers had returned in mid-August. He has legal immigration status and has committed no crime, Khieu Sopheak said.
“He can live and make business in Cambodia,” he said.
French Embassy officials did not immediately return requests for comment.
Devillers left the country in July after a lengthy detention in order to provide testimony in the murder trial of Gu Kailai, the wife of ousted Chinese politician Bo Xilai.
Gu was a business associate of Devillers, who was detained by Cambodian authorities in June and ultimately agreed to travel to China.
Gu was given a suspended death sentence Aug. 20 for the murder of Briton Neil Haywood.
A security guard in front of Devillers home in Phnom Penh’s Boeung Keng Kong commune said he had seen the Frenchman on both Saturday and Sunday.
“I saw him last evening but I don’t know what time,” the guard said.
Khieu Sopheak, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said Devillers had returned in mid-August. He has legal immigration status and has committed no crime, Khieu Sopheak said.
“He can live and make business in Cambodia,” he said.
French Embassy officials did not immediately return requests for comment.