UPDATE: Canadians jailed in Cambodia for ‘pornographic dancing’ deny charges as they return home
Two Canadian women, who were among the seven Westerners released on bail by a Cambodian court, are due to land back in Canada Friday evening.
Michael Tibollo of Toronto-based Tibollo and Associates said his daughter, lawyer Frances Tibollo, helped secure the release of 19-year-old Eden Kazoleas and 26-year-old Jessica Drolet. Kazoleas is from Drayton Valley, Alta.
READ MORE: Alberta woman charged with producing pornographic photos in Cambodia
Tibollo said Kazoleas and Drolet were given their passports back on Wednesday and started their journey back to Canada on Thursday. That journey, he said, included stops in Thailand and the Philippines. The trio is expected to arrive at Toronto’s Pearson International Airport on Friday at about 6 p.m. ET.
Kazoleas and Drolet were arrested last month for allegedly posting photos on social media showing them engaged in sexually suggestive dancing.
Tibollo said Frances is a litigation lawyer who has done legal work in Cambodia. He said she reached out to Kazoleas’ parents after reading about their daughter in the news.
“The parents were obviously pretty distraught with the situation. Their daughter is 19 years old. It’s one of those situations where kids sometimes cross boundaries that they don’t understand are different in different countries.”
Tibollo said Frances landed in Cambodia on Saturday and met with the Canadians, then started working on their release.
“Bringing them whatever food she was allowed to bringing them, tried to give them a little bit of hope because it was a fairly desperate situation,” he said.
“She worked with the prosecutor down there. She did have a local lawyer that was attending to everything as well because she isn’t qualified to practice down there. Between her and the other lawyer… they were able to negotiate the release of the seven of the 10 of them on Tuesday.”
Tibollo said the negotiations to have the women released were kept secret, saying “we didn’t want to have any repercussions with the flights or reporters.” He said the two Canadians were in good spirits following their release.
“They didn’t have any clothing or anything, so they went out and bought whatever they needed. It’s a very difficult situation down there. Their system is totally different from what you would expect in a Canadian jail or prison and the process is different as well,” he said.
“I think they’re really happy to be coming back to Canada. I think they really, really appreciate and respect the laws and what we have here in terms of how we conduct ourselves with due process. I think it was a real life lesson for them.”
READ MORE: Canadians held in Cambodia for ‘dancing pornographically’ should be deported: lawyer
Yim Srang, a court spokesman in the northwestern province of Siem Reap, said the investigation has been completed and the seven were freed Wednesday, but no trial date has been set. He said three other people remained in detention but he didn’t know their names or nationalities.
The 10 people arrested —including five from the United Kingdom, and one each from Norway, the Netherlands and New Zealand — were detained when police raided a commercially organized party at a rented villa in Siem Reap town and found people dancing at an event described as a pub crawl. Siem Reap is near the famous Angkor Wat temple complex.
READ MORE: New video emerges of foreigners after being arrested for ‘dancing pornographically’ in Cambodia
Police who conducted the raid originally detained almost 90 people, and it was unclear why they singled out 10 to remain in custody and be charged.
Tibollo said that he understands the charges against the two women have been dismissed.
“It went before the prosecutor, the prosecutor referred it to a senior prosecutor who then had to show cause in front of a judge. The judge did not think there was sufficient grounds to proceed with it. As far as I know, the charges were dismissed [with respect to the two Canadians].”
Police said those caught in the raid had been “dancing pornographically” and offended Cambodian standards of morality. They face up to a year in jail if convicted.
Tibollo said there are many lessons to be learned from this situation.
“You can’t take for granted the democracy and the rule of law and what we have in this country is replicated anywhere else in the world,” he said.
“You have to be cognizant of the boundaries that exist in those countries so that when you go there, you don’t cross them… understand their rules, understand their laws, be respectful of their traditions and this kind of stuff won’t happen.”
— With files from the Associated Press and Julia Wong
Comments