Funcinpec President Prince Norodom Ranariddh rejected on Wednesday an Interior Ministry report that blamed robbers for the shooting death of his senior adviser, Om Radsady—claiming instead that the popular royalist official was the target of a political assassination.
Prince Ranariddh also called on the Hun Sen-led government to end the culture of impunity in Cambodia and arrest those responsible for the killing.
“This is not a matter related to a robbery, as declared by the Ministry of Interior,” Prince Ranariddh told reporters during a funeral ceremony for Om Radsady at Funcinpec headquarters. Om Radsady was shot outside a busy Phnom Penh restaurant at mid day on Tuesday and died hours later at Calmette Hospital.
“I don’t believe the people robbed Om Radsady just for his telephone…. Excellency Om Radsady was a gentleman, like a Buddhist monk. He has no enemies and is not involved in sexual affairs. He is very poor, so the only thing is a political crime,” the prince said after laying a wreath at the 51-year-old’s coffin.
Prince Ranariddh stopped short of naming the political party he believed was behind Om Radsady’s killing, saying any further comment would only inflame what many say is already a very delicate political situation.
“I don’t want to make a longer comment because I don’t dare confuse or complicate more the atmosphere,” the prince said.
“I hope Om Radsady’s death is a contribution to help strengthen understanding in the nation. The soul of Om Radsady may help the nation deflect disaster and bring about happiness, justice and peace,” he said.
Dozens of royalist ministers, party officials and relatives of the slain politician gathered to pay their respects at the ceremony—held beneath a Funcinpec flag fluttering at half-staff.
Several members of the Sam Rainsy Party also offered their condolences, including lawmaker Son Chhay, who told reporters he would ask King Norodom Sihanouk to call a meeting of the leaders of the three main political parties to help calm the situation.
King Sihanouk is scheduled to depart for Beijing on Friday.
“Perhaps [the meeting] could make all three leaders offer the people assurances of political security and general stability during your absence from the country,” Son Chhay wrote Wednesday in a letter to the King.
Funcinpec officials said on Tuesday they suspected Om Radsady’s killing was a “warning message,” sent both as a dispute between Funcinpec lawmaker Princess Norodom Vacheara and Prime Minister Hun Sen escalates and as the country gears up for July’s elections. Foreign diplomats said the killing had the hallmarks of a professional hit.
An Interior Ministry statement issued late Tuesday claimed Om Radsady was the victim of a robbery, perpetrated by criminals who killed the official for his mobile telephone.
“Two unidentified men in civilian clothes [wearing helmets] with a K-54 pistol and a blue colored AX motorcycle robbed his hand phone and shot him once while he was leaving the restaurant,” the Interior Ministry stated.
Suspects have not been identified, but an investigation is ongoing, the statement added.
Interior Ministry spokesman General Khieu Sopheak said on Wednesday that police were still “committed” to their investigation. The arrest of suspects will prove the motive was robbery, he said.
King Sihanouk and CPP President Chea Sim both sent their condolences to the family of Om Radsady in separate letters on Wednesday.
On Wednesday morning, staff at Chamkar Mon district’s Phsar Kabko Restaurant, where Om Radsady was shot, were busy poring over newspaper accounts of the killing, which many staff had witnessed.
Residents living near the restaurant also discussed the killing, and robbery was the least likely motive for the shooting, they said. After finishing lunch, Om Radsady and two Funcinpec colleagues were moving toward the entrance of the open-front eatery when a lone gunman approached, according to witness accounts.
Wearing a full-face motorcycle helmet, the well-built gunman quickly drew his pistol, but seemed unsure which among the group of royalist officials was his target, several eyewitnesses to the killing said Wednesday.
“I was very shocked and shouting, ‘gun, gun, gun.’ I thought he would shoot me,” said a Funcinpec official, who hid behind a parked car during the shooting.
The gunman pursued Om Radsady back toward the restaurant and fired.
Though the bullet hit his right leg, it was enough to kill the popular and respected Funcinpec official, who had been educated in France, stood on the party’s steering committee and served as a lawmaker until the 1998 election.
The gunman left the mortally injured Om Radsady on the pavement and went to a waiting Honda AX1 motorcycle, witnesses said.
Two witnesses said the motorcycle getaway driver told the gunman to return and take the mobile telephone from the stricken politician. They then drove, slowly, away from the scene, two witnesses said.
“Most of the people who saw it say the driver of the motorcycle told him to go back and take the telephone,” said a motorcycle taxi driver who was sitting opposite the restaurant during the attack.
Viel Huor, owner of the Phsar Kabko restaurant, said the killing was the first on the busy Street 9 in the 12 years she has run her restaurant. “This never happens here,” she said.
A motorcycle repairman working near the restaurant said he doubted the claim that the killing was the result of a stolen telephone. “This is some type of intimidation,” he said.
(Additional reporting by Kevin Doyle)
