Inquisition 21
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1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
A country by country report on the progress of the sex abuse Inquisition
The setting up of Rudolf Knuchel
At the same time as the events in the Graham Cleghorn case, only two foreigners owned property in Siem Reap. One was Cleghorn, the other a Swiss hotelier, Rudolf Knuchel, who had the worldwide reputation of opening Five Star Hotels and had been employed by such groups as the Saudi royal family. As a foreigner cannot have his or her own name on a land title document, Rudolf Knuchel had his title in the name of a shop owner and hotel supplier named ABC (name removed by editor). This property was a mid-town hotel site and Knuchel was looking for further investment to build a hotel.
ABC had been a school teacher, and had taught a Kralangh school, an hour’s drive south of Siem Reap. Knuchel did not know that the father of the judge, Tan Senarong, had been the head teacher at the school or that Tan Senarong and his sister were both students at the same school where ABC had taught. (Tan Senarong was the judge that convicted both Cleghorn and Knuchel and who was accused by Cleghorn of attempted blackmail before his own conviction. Tan Senarong’s sister was head of the Cambodian Women's Crisis Centre (CWCC), which set up both men.)
At some stage ABC realized that if Knuchel was extradited to Switzerland, or if he died in prison, then he (ABC) would be a very wealthy man, worth close to one million dollars.
Near the end of the year 2000, two boys arrived at the Swiss Centre; the restaurant Knuchel was operating on his property. They asked to visit one of his staff. As the day was quiet, they stayed talking to his staff member, who was a trusted employee and a good worker. At closing time, Knuchel asked the two boys to leave so that he could lock up. They said their motor cycle was broken and they could not get a part until morning and asked if they could sleep out at the back of the house with their friend. Knuchel agreed. At 1.30 Knuchel was watching satellite TV in his room (a single room/office), sitting on a couch, wearing only a krama. The two boys entered his room, wearing only their underwear. He ordered them to leave. They said they could not sleep and asked if they could watch TV. He refused and ordered them to leave his room. One pulled off his underwear. The other one ran to the gate, unlocked it, and shouted “Help!” Outside were three women from the CWCC (one who had come up from Phnom Penh), three foreign journalists with video cameras and eight policemen. They burst into Knuchel room.
They removed his karma, handcuffed him, and filmed him naked with the two boys who were now also naked. The staff member refused to co-operate with the set up. He was offered $10,000 if he would sign a complaint and say he was sodomized by Knuchel. He refused and was taken to the holding cells where he was stripped naked and humiliated, and when he still refused he was stunned with a stun baton on his genitals. He still refused. He was then charged with procuring boys for Knuchel to rape.
At the police station the tables were filled with celebration beer and food, a small gift for the police having captured a paedophile. Both the CWCC and the journalists, who had helped arrange the set up and participated in it, attended this celebration. See the photographs in the Picture gallery.
Upon his arrest, his lawyer immediately requested a temporary release based on the fact that there was no evidence to support the accusations, but this request was turned down by the District Court of Siem Reap.
His lawyer then appealed this decision in the Appeal Court in Phnom Penh, which decided to release him pending trial in Siem Reap. When the lawyer and Knuchel’s son left the courthouse in Phnom Penh with the signed release papers, they were called into the office of the General Prosecutor of the Appeal court. There with the General Prosecutor were two women from the CWCC, who claimed that a letter from the Swiss authorities would shortly arrive informing the Appeal Court of Knuchel’s imminent deportation to Switzerland for trial there. The General Prosecutor then cancelled the court verdict and declared the sign papers null and void, saying that Knuchel would be deported to Switzerland soon. When his lawyer checked with the Swiss Embassy, they were told that such an extradition had never been sought and no letters had been sent to the court. Furthermore, the Swiss Embassy had expressed their acknowledgement of the sovereignty of the Khmer justice system and the trust of the Swiss authorities in it to employ justice in the matter.
His lawyer then appealed to the highest Court in Cambodia, the Supreme Court, where they won on all points and the matter was referred back to the District Court for trial there in October 2002.
Judge Tan Senarong had indicted Knuchel for trafficking in Human Organs, trafficking in woman and children, trafficking in weapons, running a brothel, drugging people to facilitate rape, and rape and debauchery. When Tan Senarong completed his investigation he handed the file to the prosecutor. The prosecutor, So Watt, asked the obvious question of who was missing from the town. If Knuchel had sold women, children and organs, who and what were now missing? The prosecutor then dropped all charges except the one of debauchery (Editor – the name for sex crimes against children in Cambodia). The age of the boy chosen was listed as 14 on the indictment. His school file lists his age as 17. The CWCC appealed against the prosecutor’s reduction of charges to the appeal court, demanding that the charges be reinstated, but the appeal court upheld the prosecutor decision.
While Knuchel was in jail, ABC made two attempts to sell his land, but Knuchel’s lawyer got an order preventing him.
At the trial, one boy and his mother appeared as witnesses against him. But then the boy admitted in court that Knuchel had never had sex with him. His mother took the stand and asked for her $10,000. The judge asked why she thought she could get $10,000. She replied that it had been promised to her by the CWCC and Tan Senarong. The judge said ‘so go and ask them for the money’. Knuchel was freed.
Because of the earlier Knuchel sentence, the CWCC and its patron Women’s Minister Mu Sochua had became instant celebrities, and worldwide donations poured in. Mu Sochua became the Jean d’Arc of sex crimes. A crime to steal land had produced a cash windfall and had shown them that, with the aid of a corrupt judge, protected by two members of the Assembly, they could do whatever they wanted to do. On top of that, honest people around the world would give them money and call them heroes. After all, who would believe a paedophile claiming his innocence?
The mother of the boy hung around the court for a week, asking for her $10,000.
See pictures of his arrest and the celebration at the police station Here.
Country by country
Clint Betterridge - stop this extradition! It's over.
The Peter Ellis story
The Shieldfield travesty
The Saskatoon story
The McMartin and other US stories
Act of infamy – the Nora Wall story
Bart Lauwaert tells his own story
Australia’s criminal involvement in Cambodia
Graham Cleghorn writes from Cambodian prisons
The setting up of Rudolf Knuchel
The Pitcairn sex trial – the cast and the story
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