March 2014

Megan Williams

IBJ was recently successful in helping a client named Mr. Hung Jaya from Banteay Meanchey province. Mr. Jaya was originally charged with theft of a motorbike and cell phone.  Mr. Jaya lives with his family in a small village in Banteay Meanchey.  He works very hard to provide for his family some of who are elderly.

Mr. Jaya who had received a call from his cousin one evening asked him to meet him.  When Mr. Jaya arrived he found out his cousin had made a call to him from a stolen cell phone and was in possession of a stolen motorbike.  When the police were made aware of the situation they could not find Mr. Jaya’s cousin and instead arrested him for the crime. Mr. Jaya was held in the police station for 2 days while waiting to be transferred to the prison.  Throughout this time he consistently proclaimed his innocence.  In fact, at the time of Mr. Jaya’s arrest he believed that all this was a mistake and that he would not be charged, but to his surprise he was charged for the crime.  Mr. Jaya felt terrified and did not know what to do or how to provide for his family while he was in jail.  He knew his family could not afford a lawyer and at the time of his arrest Mr. Jaya did not know all his legal rights.

It was not until one evening when Mr. Jaya was listening to the radio while in prison that he heard an advertisement for IBJ services. After contacting IBJ and talking with an IBJ lawyer about his case he was made aware of his rights.  IBJ helped him gather the necessary information to present to the judge.  Mr. Jaya was later acquitted of all charges against him.  This was due to the help of the IBJ lawyer’s research of the facts about the case and the eventual arrest and confession of the crime from his cousin.  Mr. Jaya said he helped law enforcement locate his cousin for an eventual arrest.  Mr. Jaya since getting out of jail says he is relieved that he was acquitted and is able to go back to his normal life of providing for his family.  Without IBJ Mr. Jaya stated he might very well still be in prison for a crime he did not commit.

When speaking with the IBJ lawyer involved in the case, the lawyer stated that it was a difficult case in the beginning because there were no witnesses and no one could find the cousin.  The case became a lot less difficult when the cousin was arrested and confessed to the crime.