Heng Pov ( km, Heng Pov ហេង ពៅ) (born December 1, 1957, in Kandal Province,

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand t ...

) was the

Undersecretary of State Undersecretary (or under secretary) is a title for a person who works for and has a lower rank than a secretary (person in charge). It is used in the executive branch of government, with different meanings in different political systems, and is al ...

and an assistant to the

Minister of the Interior An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

of Cambodia, as well as police commissioner of the city of

Phnom Penh Phnom Penh (; km, ភ្នំពេញ, ) is the capital and most populous city of Cambodia. It has been the national capital since the French protectorate of Cambodia and has grown to become the nation's primate city and its economic, indus ...

, and a personal advisor to

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Hun Sen Hun Sen (; km, ហ៊ុន សែន, ; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician and former military commander who has served as the prime minister of Cambodia since 1985. He is the longest-serving head of government of Cambodia, and o ...

. Heng Pov was born in Kandal province to a family of

Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese people, people of Chinese nationality, citizenship, and/or ethnicity **''Zhonghua minzu'', the supra-ethnic concept of the Chinese nation ** List of ethnic groups in China, people of va ...

Vietnamese Vietnamese may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Vietnam, a country in Southeast Asia ** A citizen of Vietnam. See Demographics of Vietnam. * Vietnamese people, or Kinh people, a Southeast Asian ethnic group native to Vietnam ** Overse ...

descent. In 1981, Heng Pov married Tung Thi Van, the daughter of Tung Pov, Vietnamese government agent based in

. The following year, Heng Pov joined the police force. Heng Pov was shot in the leg while on police duty in 1992, and his left leg was amputated. In July 2006, while he was in

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

for medical treatment on his leg stump, Cambodian officials announced that he was wanted on a variety of charges, including corruption, possession of illegal weapons, involvement in several high-profile

murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification (jurisprudence), justification or valid excuse (legal), excuse, especially the unlawful killing of another human with malice aforethought. ("The killing of another person wit ...

s, and possession of

counterfeit To counterfeit means to imitate something authentic, with the intent to steal, destroy, or replace the original, for use in illegal transactions, or otherwise to deceive individuals into believing that the fake is of equal or greater value tha ...

currency. Heng Pov responded by seeking

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

status in Malaysia, and by releasing a lengthy statement accusing several high-profile Cambodian officials, including National Police Commissioner

Hok Lundy Hok Lundy ( km, ហុក ឡុនឌី) (February 3, 1950 – November 9, 2008), also transliterated as Hok Lundi and Hoc Lundy, was the National Police Commissioner of Cambodia from 1994 to 2008; he had previously been the governor of S ...

, of corruption and involvement in several high-profile murders, including that of

Pisith Pilika Pisith Pilika ( km, ពិសិដ្ឋ ពីលីកា) (4 February 1965 – 6 July 1999), was a Cambodian ballet dancer and actress. Born Oak Eap Pili ( km, ឱក អៀបពីលី), Pilika appeared in hundreds of films and thousand ...

. While Malaysian officials were considering Heng Pov's refugee claim, Cambodian officials tried and convicted him ''

in absentia is Latin for absence. , a legal term, is Latin for "in the absence" or "while absent". may also refer to: * Award in absentia * Declared death in absentia, or simply, death in absentia, legally declared death without a body * Election in absen ...

''; Cambodian

Minister of Information An information minister (also called minister of information) is a position in the governments of some countries responsible for dealing with information matters; it is often linked with censorship and propaganda. Sometimes the position is given to ...

Khieu Kanharith Khieu Kanharith ( km, ខៀវ កញ្ញារីទ្ធ; born 13 September 1951) is a Cambodian politician and the current Minister of Information. Kanharith was born in Phnom Penh to Khieu Than, who was a customs official and his wife Lo ...

said "if (he) says he knows about crimes within the government, it means he is an accomplice to these crimes. So he has no right to seek political asylum." In December 2006,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

announced that it was willing to grant Heng Pov refugee status; instead, hours before he was supposed leave Malaysia for Finland, Malaysia handed him to Cambodian authorities who took him back to Cambodia in a private plane on 19 December 2006, where he was arrested and sentenced to multiple life sentences. His wife and three of his six children now reside in Finland, where they have been granted status as political refugees.Heng Pov's Family In Finland Asks To Unfreeze Funds
from the

Phnom Penh Post ''The Phnom Penh Post'' ( km, ភ្នំពេញប៉ុស្តិ៍, ) is a daily English-language newspaper published in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Founded in 1992 by publisher Michael Hayes and Kathleen O'Keefe, it is Cambodia's oldest En ...

, archived at ScandAsia Khieu Thakvika, spokesman for the Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said that if Finland "regrets" about Heng Pov, Cambodia can send many criminals to Finland

References

External links

Official statement by the Cambodian government on the Finnish reaction to Heng Pov's deportationPDF of Heng Pov's statement
at

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(requires

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) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Heng, Pov 1957 births Cambodian amputees Cambodian politicians with disabilities Cambodian people of Chinese descent Cambodian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment Cambodian refugees Government ministers of Cambodia Living people Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Cambodia Cambodian politicians convicted of crimes