UPDATE: The kidnappers are now appealing to be sentenced on a lesser charge:

[excerpts]
July 6, 2023
Jailed Chinese appeal for less serious charge
Four Chinese men who were convicted of kidnapping a compatriot appealed to the Supreme Court yesterday for a less serious charge.
They were jailed for 15 years by a Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court in 2021 for allegedly kidnapping and imprisoning a countrywoman and demanding $200,000 in exchange for her freedom.

The four defendants were identified by Supreme Court Presiding Judge Kim Sathavy as Chao Jiawei, 28, Chen Xuedong, 36, Dai Shenlong, 22, and Song Jiawei, 23.

They were all former employees of a Chinese-owned casino in Preah Sihanouk province.

Judge Sathavy said that they had kidnapped Yi Feng, 39, the owner of a Chinese business in Sihanoukville, unjustly detained and mistreated her, and demanded $200,000 from her family in exchange for her release before being apprehended.

She noted that Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court had convicted them to 15 years in prison on May 11 last year.

She said that they appealed to the Preah Sihanouk Appeal Court but the court upheld their sentence on October 4 last year.

Hong argued that despite what the lower courts had claimed, the four accused did not beat or torture the victim while she was being held.

Hong requested that the charges against his clients be changed from “arrest, detention, and unlawful confinement with aggravating circumstances” under Article 254 of the Cambodian Criminal Code, to “arrest, detention, and unlawful confinement” under Article 253, which carries a maximum sentence of three to five years.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501319537/ ... us-charge/