Foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said the ministry has met with Cambodian authorities and is seeking advice on the matter.

“These meetings will continue until it (a pardon) is considered,” Zambry said in winding up the debate on the foreign ministry’s budget estimates.

Earlier this month, the man’s father, M Karthigesu had appealed to the government to bring back his 26-year old son, Hemakavin, who he said was duped by a drug trafficking syndicate when he went to Phnom Penh in 2016.

Hemakavin was arrested by the police at a hotel there and later sentenced to 25 years in prison by a Cambodian court the same year.

Zambry also said that the ministry had been keeping tabs on the case and was working to bring Hemakavin home.

“Our representative in Phnom Penh visited him and aided him since he was jailed.”