Cambodian on trial for infecting more than 100 with HIV

Yem Chhrin faces up to life in prison if found guilty of intentionally spreading HIV

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

: A lawyer says an unlicensed medical practitioner who infected more than 100 villagers in northwestern Cambodia with HIV by reusing unclean needles has appeared in court to face three charges, including murder.

Defense lawyer En Sovann says Yem Chhrin faces up to life in prison if found guilty of murder, intentionally spreading HIV - the virus that causes AIDS - and practicing medicine without a license.

Yem Chhrin, who appeared on Tuesday in a provincial court in Battambang town for the five-day trial, was arrested last December. He was taken into protective custody, fearing revenge lynching by residents of Rokka village, where at least 106 of the 800 people tested were found to be infected with HIV. Of them, at least 10 people are reported to have died.