A leader of the opposition CNRP in Pursat province said he received a death threat last week in the form of incense, salt and money covered in blood, all intended to curse him, and later a pair of thick wooden batons inscribed with a murderous message.
Rem Samoeun, chief of the CNRP’s Pursat City executive committee, filed a police complaint on Thursday after the first threatening items were left in front of his house earlier in the day, CNRP provincial executive committee leader Sam Senghort said on Sunday.
“They dumped clothes, salt, incense, money covered in blood and batons, and they were signed: ‘I pray you are killed by these batons,’” said Mr. Senghort, explaining that the batons arrived on Friday after the complaint was filed with commune police.
“I think it’s a political issue because there is a movement of people who support the CNRP now compared with the past electoral mandate,” he added.
However, Sem Vanna, chief of police in Prey Nhy commune, where Mr. Samoeun lives, said he doubted that the items left at the CNRP official’s door were a threat and speculated that they were likely just garbage.
“I don’t think it’s a political issue. It might belong to a beggar who dumped it there, or maybe it belongs to someone else,” Mr. Vanna said. “But anyway, police are investigating this.”
CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said the ruling party would not make such a threat and that opposition officials were too quick to see politics in random events.
“It’s a groundless conclusion,” Mr. Eysan said. “Don’t exaggerate issues so much that even a dog being hit by a car is political.”
However, Mr. Samoeun said he had no doubt that the threat had come from the CPP as a form of intimidation for his open support for the opposition.
“I think it was a political threat to break my spirit because I am in the structure of the CNRP. This happened two days in a row,” Mr. Samoeun said. “We are always concerned about our safety and security, and we ask the police to find the real reason.”
