Don’t Use Positions To Subvert the Law, Officials Warned
Following the recent arrest of a National Assembly member’s son on charges of automobile theft, Co-Minister of Interior Sar Kheng warned government officials Tuesday not to use their influence to protect family members from the law.
Acknowledging some sons of government officials are active gang members, Sar Kheng said officials must take responsibility and monitor the behavior of relatives who use family connections to commit crimes with impunity.
“I want the parents to closely follow their children,” he said. “I don’t blame anyone. But the parents should know about their children. In the past some gangsters are the children of officials.
“From today, if [children of officials] are arrested, let the authorities and the law deal with them,” he said. “Do not prevent or block the work of authorities or police.”
Hul Pheaktra, 19, the son of Hul Savoan, CPP lawmaker for Svay Rieng province and a former RCAF commander, was arrested Friday for allegedly stealing a car earlier this year, according to municipal police and court officials.
Mao Dara, bureau chief of the Interior Ministry’s Penal Police department, said Hul Pheaktra was among a gang of five young men that drugged a Phnom Penh garage owner then stole one of his cars in February.
An arrest warrant has been issued for one other member of the gang. The identities of three others are unknown, Mao Dara said.
Khoan Sophan, Municipal Penal Police chief, said Hul Pheaktra is being detained at the Municipal Prison in Prey Sa commune. Fearing intervention from high-ranking officials, police in Chamkar Mon district, where Hul Pheaktra was arrested, said they transferred him directly to Municipal Police Headquarters after his arrest Friday.
“We cannot detain him at the station because we have experience of powerful people intervening in cases,” a Chamkar Mon district police official said on the condition of anonymity.
A senior Interior Ministry police officer said he is aware of a sizable number of privileged children who are key member of gangs operating unhindered in Phnom Penh.
Investigations of serious crimes committed by the gangs are stifled by suspects’ close connections to senior government officials, the officer said.
Relatives of police officer Suy Sadom say his case proves the point. Suy Sadom, 28, was gunned down in a Phnom Penh karaoke parlor July 31 by gang members allegedly related to government officials. One relative fears justice may never be done because the killer is reportedly being shielded from arrest.
Municipal Military Police Commander Chhin Chanpor said at the time that Suy Sadom was killed by a well-know gang, some of whose members are sons of high-ranking officials.
Sim Hong, deputy Municipal Police commander, said Monday the suspected killer, Chou Sarida, has fled to Thailand. Evidence against at least one other suspect in the killing is still being compiled, he said.
“Eventually I will arrest the killers,” he said. “I don’t want the spirit of the dead man to blame me.”
The arrest warrant issued for Chou Sarida remains enforceable for 10 years.
Chou Sarida was among a group of seven men, including Prime Minister Hun Sen’s nephew, Hun Chea, arrested in February for discharging a firearm in a Phnom Penh nightclub.
(Additional Reporting Thet Sambath)
