The ceremony honoring the victims of the 1998 protest that left at least 30 people dead or missing and more than one hundred wounded has been canceled because one of the ceremony’s organizers was allegedly threatened.
Men Nath, the second deputy for the Democratic Front of Khmer Students and Intellectuals, said Sunday that his organization would not celebrate the fourth anniversary of the Sept 7, 1998 protests because he was harassed by unidentified suspects.
“This year we will not commemorate because I was followed and they tried to assassinate me last month ,” Men Nath said. “They are trying to reduce our security.”
He said he never filed a report with the police about the alleged threats but sent a complaint to the US and Japanese embassies.
A Japanese Embassy official Sunday said the embassy had not received any complaints from Men Nath. An official with the US Embassy Sunday said that he was not aware of any threats filed by Men Nath, but added that the US Embassy receives many such complaints each month.
Even though the Democratic Front of Khmer Student and Intellectuals canceled its celebration honoring the 1998 protests, the group released a statement Friday honoring the demonstrators who “passed away for justice, democracy and the national cause.”
During the Sept 1998 protests, hundreds of students, monks, Sam Rainsy Party and Funcinpec members clashed with police in various Phnom Penh locations. The demonstrators were protesting the results of the July 26, 1998 national elections.
The demonstrations, which lasted for several weeks, also included CPP members, who demonstrated in Phnom Penh against the Sam Rainsy Party.
