The Court of Appeals last week denied a bail request filed by lawyers representing an Australian woman who is charged with operating an illegal surrogacy company.
Tammy Davis-Charles, the co-founder of Fertility Solutions PGD, was detained along with two Cambodians, Penh Rithy, 28, a commerce ministry official, and a nurse, Samrithchan Chariya, 35.
Chheang Sorphoan, defense lawyer, said the court had declined to offer his client bail as it was nearing the trial date.
There is currently no law governing surrogacy services in Cambodia, but officials had said a new law is in the works.
Touch Tharith, Appeals Court spokesman, said the court “didn’t consider” the bail request.
Davis-Charles moved the Fertility Solutions business to Cambodia after the Thai junta began to shut down surrogacy services in Thailand in 2015.
The clinic would charge clients $50,000 and pay between $10,000 to $12,000 to the surrogates.
Rights groups have argued that the practice should not be legalized as the Cambodian surrogates did not fully comprehend the complicated nature of the service they would be providing.