Despite reports and worries of police barring vehicles from entering Phnom Penh for Chea Vichea’s cremation Sunday morning, mourners said they encountered no problems reaching the ceremony attended by thousands.
“We came here by truck, and the traffic police did not stop us. Our people came here to share our condolences at Chea Vichea’s cremation,” said Sun Tha, 37, whose vehicle was part of an eight-truck convoy from Takeo province’s Samraong district.
The drivers of 23 other trucks carrying mourners from the outskirts of the capital and surrounding provinces said they experienced no altercations with police.
Visits to Phnom Penh’s outer edges on all major arteries entering the city found no road blocks.
Sarn Chamroeun, a worker at the C-One Cambodian Garment C/L, said he and 600 fellow union members had no trouble getting across town from Stung Meanchey commune.
Ven Sem, a Traffic Police lieutenant, said he had been posted on Sothearos Boulevard since 6 am—a long morning, but free of turmoil.
“Chea Vichea’s funeral march is the biggest one in the city during the 13 years I have been working, and the marchers are respecting the traffic regulations,” he said.
At the procession and funeral, the police presence was very visible. Uniformed officers lined the streets and directed traffic at intersections, while a multitude of plainclothes policemen, identifiable by their ear pieces and I-Com radios, intermingled with onlookers and the bereaved.
Shortly before the procession reached the park in front of Wat Botum, men who said they were bodyguards of Mol Roeup, adviser of security and intelligence to Hun Sen, entered the pagoda’s compound to inform head monks that their superior would station himself there to monitor the funeral.
The monks gave their permission, which was not requested, but the bodyguards departed less than halfway through the service, and Mol Roeup never arrived.
Around the corner from the funeral, between the National Assembly and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, a military police truck and jeep were parked with about a dozen men and their anti-riot gear at the ready. They kept out of the mourners’ sight.
(Additional reporting by Kevin Doyle)
