Well-known drama teacher Saing Sosak, 55, will be charged in court today with confining and beating an anti-drug police officer during a drug raid, Heng Pov, municipal judicial police chief, said Sunday.
Accounts differ widely as to what led to Saing Sosak’s arrest. Saing Sosak and his relatives say men in civilian clothing forced their way into his house in Tuol Kok district on Friday without permission, bullying the residents days after an attempt to kill Saing Sosak had put the family on edge.
But police say plainclothes officers were chasing suspected drug dealers through Saing Sosak’s property when they were caught, tied up and severely beaten for no reason.
“We didn’t force our way into Saing Sosak’s house, but there is a small path that runs through his property, and the drug dealers ran down that path into [Saing Sosak’s] compound,” anti-drug police Chief Uy Saothy said.
“Saing Sosak caught my colleague and tied him up [inside the house], hit him in the head until he was nearly unconscious and…detained him there for two hours,” Uy Saothy claimed.
But one of Saing Sosak’s sons, who asked that his name not be used, said four motorcycles and a truck pulled up in front of the house Friday. Several men forcefully entered the house.
“They forced three of my brothers into the bathroom,” the son said. “Another brother ran to tell my father, who was upstairs, that someone was trying to kill him.”
The son said one of the men pointed the gun at Saing Sosak and fired twice, but the shots missed and hit the ceiling when Saing Sosak pushed the gun away. The family then tied up the man until authorities could take him away, the son said.
“These men acted like robbers or kidnappers, because they wore civilian clothes and forced into my father’s house, holding a gun and forcing my younger brothers into the bathroom,” the son said.
While walking down the road last Tuesday, Saing Sosak was shot at three times but not hit, the son said.
Saing Sosak was brought in for questioning and arrested Saturday.
