Cambodian riot trial ends

The Thai embassy was looted and burned by rioters

A court in the Cambodian capital Phnom Penh has concluded hearing evidence and arguments in the trial of 58 people accused of taking part in violent anti-Thai riots in January.

The judge said he would deliver verdicts on 15 September. All 21 defendants who attended the trial have denied the charges.

The Thai embassy and several Thai-owned businesses were set on fire during the violence, and the incident severely damaged Thai-Cambodian relations.

The riots were triggered by Cambodian media wrongly quoting a Thai TV star as saying that Angkor Wat, Cambodia's national icon, actually belonged to Thailand.

The 58 people on trial were charged with banditry, organising illegal demonstrations and inciting violence and racial hatred, according to presiding judge Tan Sinarong.

Only 21 of the defendants appeared in court on Tuesday, because the others had been granted temporary police bail, officials said.

The defendants - mostly young men - appeared in the courtroom in downtown Phnom Penh wearing bright blue prison overalls.

If found guilty, they could be sentenced to between five and 15 years in prison, according to deputy chief prosecutor Sok Reoun.

After the charges had been read out, each defendant was questioned individually.

"I accept that I entered the Royal Phnom Penh Hotel (one of the buildings targeted by the rioters) but I only took a screwdriver which I saw under a car," defendant Cheang Kea, 35, told the court.

Another man, 39-year-old Sin Noat, said he only took two bundles of vegetables from the hotel.

Ringleaders 'still at large'

Of the 58 defendants, none is believed to have actually organised the rampage.

"Up to now our investigation has been unable to find the ringleader," said Sok Reoun.

"But the court has enough evidence and documents to accuse these suspects," he said.

Cambodia had been under heavy pressure from Thailand to bring the perpetrators of January's violence to justice.

Relations between the two neighbours suffered greatly after the riots, with Bangkok downgrading diplomatic relations with Phnom Penh.

Relations were eventually normalised in April, a month after Cambodia paid Thailand almost $6m in compensation for the damage to the Thai embassy.

Negotiations over business compensation claims are still continuing.