The Ratanakkiri Provincial Court on Monday charged a notorious former military official for firing a handgun into the air outside a karaoke parlor on Saturday, a court official said.
Provincial prosecutor Ros Saram said former Colonel Sath Soeun, popularly known by his nickname, Soeun Phen Dai, or “Master of the Earth,” was charged with the use and illegal possession of a weapon during the incident on Saturday night.
“Now, we have placed him in pretrial detention,” Mr. Saram said.
According to Banlung City police chief Em Vun, Mr. Soeun became enraged at the Mlob Meas KTV venue when two hostesses, the services of whom he wanted to acquire, were with other customers.
“He seemed so angry, and he left the karaoke room and opened fire into the sky in front of the karaoke parlor,” said Mr. Vun, adding that officers arriving on the scene found 12 casings of spent ammunition from a Glock handgun.
Although no one was hurt, Mr. Soeun was arrested for his actions, Mr. Vun said.
Mr. Soeun had recently emerged in Banlung City working for businessman Try Pheap, who owns economic land concessions in the area and is frequently linked to the illicit timber trade.
It is not Mr. Soeun’s first run in with the law. Mr. Vun also said Mr. Soeun was responsible for a car crash in November last year when his car hit a motorcycle carrying three men in Banlung City, killing one of them.
However, he was never arrested, and Chhay Thy, Adhoc provincial coordinator, said the crash went uninvestigated after compensation was paid to the survivors.
In yet another case, Mr. Soeun was charged but acquitted in the 1994 murder in Kompong Cham province of Koh Santepheap journalist Chan Dara. And, in 2004, he was sentenced to 10 years in jail for the attempted murder of a Royal Cambodian Armed Forces colonel, though it is unknown how much, if any, of the sentence he served.
