Five men have been detained at Kompong Cham Provincial Prison after shots were fired inside a karaoke parlor when staff refused their sexual advances, officials said Thursday.
The men, who claimed at the time of their arrest to be RCAF soldiers and bodyguards to Prime Minister Hun Sen, were charged Monday with illegal possession of weapons, said Mok Pheang, Kompong Cham court deputy prosecutor.
Suspects Hy Vang, 34, Hy Chantha, 26, Prum Socheat, 32, Poth Chanthol, 26, and Meas Chan Ratrey, 29, were arrested in the early hours of Sunday morning at the Villa guesthouse in Kompong Cham town, which operates several karaoke rooms, said Men Bunnarith, a provincial military police bureau chief. Four handguns were confiscated at the scene, he said.
Men Bunnarith said suspect Hy Vang fired four shots at the floor, couch and in the bathroom of room 210 at the guesthouse at around 1 am, after five women working in the parlor refused to leave with the group. Hy Vang has been charged with destruction of private property.
After Hy Vang opened fire, the heavily intoxicated men continued drinking and singing karaoke, and would not allow the five terrified women to leave the room.
Men Bunnarith said that the men’s names were not listed as RCAF soldiers or as bodyguards to Hun Sen.
“They are not real soldiers or bodyguards,” he added.
At least five female waitresses working at beer gardens or karaoke parlors in Phnom Penh have been injured in shootings this year involving drunken police and RCAF officials.
None of the shooters have been prosecuted.
