13-yr-old girl held for drug trafficking in Cambodia, lawyers claim illegal detention

The accused's lawyers have been postponing her trial stating that she can only be convicted when she turns 14.

Phnom Penh:

A 13-year-old has been arrested by the Cambodian police on the charges of being a drug mule after she was found transporting drugs. The minor has been accused of allegedly carrying crystal meth.

According to a report in the Daily Mail, the girl has been detained at the Prey Sar Prison since the past eight months and the case has been put on hold as her lawyers claim that she is too young to be convicted.

However, this is not the first time that she has been caught with drugs. She was previously held for drug trafficking when she was 12, and sent to a re-education centre -- only to be let out and re-arrested for the same crime.

The accused's lawyers have been postponing her trial stating that she was too young to face charges and that she can only be convicted for the crime when she turns 14.

But this time, her mother claimed that although she was 12-year-old, police arrested her and booked her under her 20-year-old sister's name.

"I cannot say why the police put her at 20 years of age. She is too young to be 20 - she still plays with rubber bands," her lawyer was quoted as saying.

Billy Gorter, Executive Director of a non-profit organisation, This Life Cambodia, said that there must have been 'grave oversight at multiple levels' if the girl was arrested even though she was a minor.