Cambodia News, (Phnom Penh): The Supreme Court this morning, September 14, 2022, held a hearing on the appeal of a man who was sentenced by a lower court to 7 years in prison in connection with the rape of a 13-year-old girl during 2018 in Kampong Chhnang province. The young victim later committed suicide.

Mr. Nil Nonn, Chief Judge of the Supreme Court Trial Chamber, stated that the accused was Sek Sareth, a 58-year-old man living in Tuor Rolum village, Kampong Hao commune, Kampong Leng district, Kampong Chhnang province. The victim was a 13-year-old girl, also living locally.

In this case, Sek Sareth was sentenced by the Kampong Chhnang Provincial Court on June 17, 2020 to seven years in prison on charges of aggravated assault under Article 239 of the Penal Code. He was arrested on April 21, 2018 in Kampong Chhnang province following a complaint from the victim's mother.

The defendant has appealed his seven year prison sentence before the Court of Appeal, which upheld his sentence. He has now also appealed to the Supreme Court, who will announce its verdict on the morning of September 21, 2022.
During the trial, the accused admitted his guilt and asked the Supreme Court to help reduce his sentence.
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CEN

If you shoot someone or stab someone or severely beat them with an object, it is attempted murder or another serious charge of violence, and if they die later, it's upgraded to murder, due to the death being a consequence of the initial charge.

I'm not privy to the full story here, but for the victim to commit suicide, it doesn't sound pretty.

Can higher court appeals go the other way, as in the west (as opposed to the Wild West)?

Pseudonomdeplume wrote: ↑Wed Sep 14, 2022 9:44 pm If you shoot someone or stab someone or severely beat them with an object, it is attempted murder or another serious charge of violence, and if they die later, it's upgraded to murder, due to the death being a consequence of the initial charge.

I'm not privy to the full story here, but for the victim to commit suicide, it doesn't sound pretty.

Can higher court appeals go the other way, as in the west (as opposed to the Wild West)?

It was more than 2 years between arrest and sentencing, so the suicide may well have occurred prior to and been taken into account at sentencing.

As for the court increasing the sentence, the state hasn't made the appeal to increase the sentence, it's a convict's appeal to reduce, so the issue of undue leniency shouldn't be an issue for the court to decide on.

But, hey, anything is possible in the KoW.

I can only imagine how the family must feel when the perp asks for leniency in a case like this