A funeral procession to carry the body of Kem Ley from Phnom Penh to his hometown in Takeo province will take place on Sunday, a friend of the slain political analyst said on Monday.
Initially scheduled for this past Sunday, the procession was called off in order to give organizers more time to prepare the burial site in Takeo and the public more time to view the body, which is on display at Phnom Penh’s Wat Chas pagoda.
On Monday, activist monk But Buntenh said the organizers had agreed to go ahead with the procession on the 24th.
He said a convoy of cars was being prepared for the roughly 90-km route, with the procession expected to draw thousands of mourners.
The Phnom Penh municipal government had agreed to provide security on the original date of the procession.
But City Hall spokesman Mean Chanyada said the organizers had not yet submitted a request for the new date, and that authorities would have to review the revised plan.
A well-known political commentator and government critic, Kem Ley, 46, was gunned down inside a Phnom Penh convenience store on July 10 in what many believe was a politically motivated assassination.
