Cambodia releases Thai 'spy' in diplomatic drama

Mon, 14 Dec 2009
DPA

Bangkok - The Cambodian government on Monday released a Thai national convicted of spying on the official visit last month of fugitive former Thai premier Thaksin Shinawatra, whose appointment as an economic adviser to the country has irked Thailand. Sivarak Chutipong, a Thai national jailed in Preysar Prison since November 12, was freed with a royal pardon granted by Cambodian King Sihamoni at Prime Minister Hun Sen's residence Monday morning, the state-run Thai News Agency (TNA) reported.

The ceremony was attended by Sivarak, his mother Simarak Na Nakhon Panom and four members of the Puea Thai opposition party, TNA said.

It was not immediately clear whether Thaksin, who flew in to Phnom Penh on Sunday, was present at the release which he helped engineer through a personal request to Hun Sen, a close friend.

Sivarak was scheduled to arrive in Bangkok Monday afternoon.

The 31-year-old aviation engineer was widely seen as a victim of a growing diplomatic spat between Thailand and Cambodia.

The former employee of Thai-owned Cambodia Air Traffic Services, was arrested in mid-November after the authorities accused him of passing on details of Thaksin's flight to a diplomat at the Thai embassy in Phnom Penh.

Last week, Sivarak was sentenced to seven years jail and fined 3,000 dollars for passing on the information.

Days after his conviction, Cambodia's King Norodom Sihamoni pardoned Sivarak after receiving requests for his pardon from his mother, members of the Puea Thai party and Thaksin.

Sivarak was arrested during a surprise visit by Thaksin, who was appointed as an economic adviser to the Cambodian government and a personal adviser to Hun Sen.

The news of those appointments riled Bangkok, and relations between the two nations plunged to their lowest point in years. Thaksin has an outstanding jail term against him in Thailand, but Cambodia rejected an extradition request filed by Bangkok during his visit.

In the diplomatic row surrounding the former Thai premier's visit, both nations recalled their ambassadors and expelled senior embassy staff. Neither ambassador has yet returned to their post.