Finland accepts Heng Pov

According to the Malaysian national news agency Bernama, Finland has accepted Heng Pov’s application for asylum.

Former Cambodian police chief Heng Peo, who is involved in a legal battle to stop the Malaysian authorities from deporting him to Cambodia, has been granted a visa by the Finland government, his counsel, N. Sivananthan, said Wednesday.

He said he received a letter, which was personally signed by Finland’s ambassador to Malaysia Lauri Korpinen this morning stating that the Finland government had officially approved Heng Peo’s application for asylum.

Sivananthan told a news conference that Heng Peo, through his counsel, had sought political asylum to several countries since his detention by the Immigration Department on Oct 3 for allegedly overstaying.

“The Finland government had carried out its own investigation on Heng Peo’s application and decided the application had strong merit where the ex-police chief might be subject to torture and unjust prosecution for an alleged crime which was not committed by him,” he said.

While it is technically possible that Malaysia could still deport Heng Pov back to Cambodia, it seems extremely unlikely. Surely all the diplomatic wheeling and dealing was not done in vain.