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Associated Press

The six defendants are the first to be tried in connection with the waste shipment to the sleepy coastal town of Sihanoukville, where residents rioted and fled in panic after the discovery of the material in December.

Four people were killed in traffic accidents during the panicked exodus. Another two died after handling the waste.

The trial began in typically disjointed fashion for Cambodia's notoriously corrupt judicial system.

Only two of the accused appeared in person: jailed import-export businessman Sam Moeun and Camcontrol inspections official Pheng Chheng.

Customs Director In Saroeun and Lonh Vannak of the customs' pricing department did not appear because they were ill, according to their lawyers, who submitted affidavits to serve as testimony.

Two Taiwanese businessmen from the Jade Fortune shipping company, Chang Kufong and Kao Jiasong, left Cambodia after the scandal broke and were never taken into custody despite appeals by the court to Taiwan.

All face charges of damaging the environment and public health and destruction of public and private property. The three businessmen were also charged with falsifying customs documents. It was not immediately clear what the penalties might be.

Customs and inspection officials denied knowledge of any danger, with each side claiming that the other was responsible for determining what was in the shipment.

Customs, a branch of the Finance Ministry, determines what tax duties to charge at Sihanoukville Port, while Camcontrol of the Commerce Ministry determines the quantity and quality of goods.

No Cover-Ups

In Saroeun denied that there was any approval from higher-ups in the Cambodian government, countering accusations levied by opposition leader Sam Rainsy and local newspapers that those on trial were scapegoats for senior figures in Prime Minister Hun Sen's administration.

The waste, from the Taiwanese petrochemical giant Formosa Plastics, was cleaned up and shipped back to Taiwan on April 2. It remains stranded on a ship while Formosa searches for a disposal company willing to accept it.

The Cambodian businessman, two Taiwanese and their Cambodian translator were found guilty Wednesday in a provincial court for importing the 3,000 tons of toxic waste from Taiwan.

Sihanoukville Court Judge Ke Fakhon sentenced Sam Moeun of Muth Vuthy Import Co. to seven months in prison for complicity in damaging health, life and the environment and the destruction of public and private property.

Sam Moeun, who already has spent six months in jail since his December arrest, also was given a three-year suspended sentence and ordered to pay a fine of 5 million riel ($1 = 3,800 riel) to the Environment Ministry.

Two Taiwanese businessmen from the Jade Fortune shipping company, Chang Kufong and Kao Jiasong, and their Cambodian translator Phan Phung were sentenced in absentia to five years in prison and ordered to pay total fines of about $500,000.

The court found them guilty of masterminding the import of the waste and crudely disposing it in an exposed heap on the outskirts of town.

The two Taiwanese left Cambodia after the scandal broke and never were taken into custody despite appeals by the court to Taiwan. Their translator also is still at large.

Three government officials were to face trial Wednesday, but the charges against them were dropped at the last minute on the recommendation of the state prosecutor, Mam Mith. The officials are Customs Director In Saroeun, Lonh Vannak of the customs pricing department and Camcontrol inspections official Pheng Chheng.

The prosecutor appealed to the judge in his closing arguments that the trio of officials were not guilty of any crime, but simply "appeared to have been reckless in carrying out their duties."

He suggested that the three, all of whom were suspended from their posts during the scandal, be disciplined by their superiors in the government.

The rulings Wednesday were the first in connection with the waste shipment to Sihanoukville, where residents rioted and fled in panic last December after the discovery of the toxic material by environment officials.

Formosa Plastics has refused to pay damages to the government or to those who became sick or died as a result of contact with the waste.