Two arrests in the killing of union leader Chea Vichea have done nothing to pacify critics of the government or quell fears that similar assassination-style attacks on government critics are imminent.
In recent days, opposition party members, a human rights advocate and a witness to the shooting have said they remain fearful for their lives as a growing number of critics denounced the police investigation as a smoke screen.
“More people seem to think that they are not safe, including myself,” said opposition parliamentarian Son Chhay. “I know that if they want to kill me, they will kill me.”
A witness to the shooting reported that in recent days a man motioned as though he was shooting a pistol at her as he drove past her newsstand, near where Chea Vichea was killed. She reported the incident to the Cambodian Center for Human Rights.
Opposition leaders say they also feel the heat. Son Chhay said he and former Funcinpec senator Kem Sokha were the subject of credible threats.
Director of the Cambodian Center for Human Rights and a strident critic of human rights abuses, Kem Sokha is on a five-member “white list” of possible assassination targets published by the Sam Rainsy Party.
He said Thursday that he suspected police tailed him when he visited a pagoda in Kompong Speu province last week.
“The situation is very dangerous, and I cannot trust the police,” he said.
Chea Vichea was shot three times at close range Jan 22 as he read a newspaper near Independence Monument. He was a prominent member of the Sam Rainsy Party and outspoken critic of the government. Many suspect his killing was politically motivated and thousands marched in his funeral a week ago.
Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly called for a swift and thorough investigation, and on Thursday, Municipal Deputy Police Chief Heng Pov held a news conference that began when two suspects were rushed behind closed doors with black sacks pulled over their heads.
Municipal police boasted that they needed only a few days to arrest Chea Vichea’s killers, identified as Sok Sam Oeun, 36, and Born Samnang, 23. They said someone had promised the two men $5,000 to carry out the assassination.
The two were charged with intentional killing and use of an illegal weapon after a short hearing Saturday in a Phnom Penh court, said Municipal Investigating Judge Hing Thearith.
CPP leaders praised the arrests. Om Yentieng, an adviser to Hun Sen, said Sunday that the government had done its utmost to fulfill its promise and find the killers.
He dismissed accusations that the investigation thus far was bogus.
“The government never plays at drama. If someone knows of these real killers, they should please inform the government,” Om Yentieng said.
But some workers’ unions and student groups, along with politicians in the Alliance of Democrats, have regarded the arrests with heavy skepticism. Son Chhay said public mistrust of the government and police runs so deep that it will require the intervention of King Norodom Sihanouk.
Son Chhay said he is writing a letter to the King, requesting the suspension of National Police Director-General Hok Lundy as an investigation into Chea Vichea’s death continues.
“We want the King to freeze his authority,” he said.
“There’s mistrust among the public toward the government…. They don’t trust the authorities,” he said.
On Sunday, Prince Norodom Sirivudh called the arrests part of a “comedy.” Three days before, opposition leader Sam Rainsy referred to them as a “show.”
“When [comedians] play a joke, they play suitably, and we can laugh,” said Prince Sirivudh, secretary-general of Funcinpec. “Now this is another kind of comedy. I have lost two friends this year—Om Radsady and Chea Vichea.”
Om Radsady, a Funcinpec adviser, was shot dead in a similar attack in February. His killing was also labeled by many as political.
The list of groups discrediting the arrests includes the Free Trade Union of Workers, which Chea Vichea led and shaped into the most vocal workers’ group in the country.
Speaking to more than a hundred union leaders gathered Sunday, FTU Secretary-General Sum Sam Neang said, “The arrests are a drama made by the government so it can abandon its responsibility. These killers are bogus killers.”
“This is all a game, tricks,” he said.
That union and other opposition-aligned groups are appealing to the international community to hold Hun Sen’s government responsible for a transparent and credible investigation.
In a statement released Saturday, a coalition of opposition-aligned groups rejected the arrests. The Cambodian Watchdog Council in a statement appealed to the international community and embassies “to pressure the government to arrest the real culprit and people behind the killing.”
Though the Cambodian Watchdog Council suspended its threat to strike if a suspect was not arrested soon after the slaying, council leaders say they won’t accept the arrests as legitimate.
Rong Chhun, head of the council’s Cambodian Independent Teachers’ Association and also a “white list” target, said the group would appeal to the International Labor Organization in Geneva to apply pressure for a more credible investigation.
“If there is no response by the government, we will hold a demonstration,” he said.
(Additional reporting by Van Roeun)
