SHAH ALAM – Influencer Stephanie Cheng, widely known as @laparasian, has revealed that her father, Chi Gian Cheng, a French national, was kidnapped in Cambodia.
The abduction, according to Stephanie's Instagram post, occurred at 8pm local time, just before a scheduled meeting to discuss alleged fund mismanagement.
Stephanie believes her father's disappearance was a calculated move to prevent a high-profile official, Chea Sothun, from being convicted in the ongoing dispute.
Sothun is a senior official in Cambodia's Interior Ministry.
According to Stephanie, her father was in Cambodia to pursue justice and attend the meeting in person, accompanied by the Interior Ministry’s First Vice President, when the abduction took place.
She fears the case is being manipulated to frame her father as a fraudster in order to have him jailed or deported, which she described as a deliberate attempt to shift blame and obstruct the truth.
"Chea Sothun is a dangerous individual and my dad's life is in danger.
"We are urgently calling on the French Consulate to take immediate action to protect Cheng’s rights, the international community and human rights organisations to closely monitor this case and the French government to step in and provide diplomatic protection for one of its citizens," Stephanie stated.
The influencer contends that the case is being twisted to paint her father as the perpetrator, thereby obstructing his diplomatic rights in the pursuit of justice and burying the truth.Stephanie also added that her father was allegedly brought to court in Cambodia without any legal counsel or interpreter and he does not understand Khmer or English.“He is completely isolated. This is a trap aimed at sentencing him rapidly and in silence, a direct violation of his fundamental rights,” she wrote in her Instagram story.According to her, lawyers who were sent were also denied access, prompting her to seek public support to ensure he receives sufficient protection from an alleged unfair and unlawful judicial process.