sihanoukville – The victim in a recent shooting incident that involved the son of CPP President Chea Sim has said he will not press charges.
Lim Bun, the owner of a beer garden that was shot-up by AK-47 fire Aug 29, said Wednesday that he considers the matter closed. He said he has received adequate compensation from the family of Chea Tea. Lim Bun declined to disclose the amount.
Likewise, authorities apparently have no intention to further investigate Chea Tea for his role in the incident, in which witnesses said his bodyguards fired many shots into the Lucky Beer Garden, injuring no one.
Tak Vanna, the deputy police chief for the seaside town, said Chea Tea fled after the shooting to Phnom Penh, outside the jurisdiction of Sihanoukville police. His police will not investigate, he said. In addition, no weapon was confiscated, so police cannot charge anyone for firing a weapon in public, said Tak Vanna.
The Ministry of Interior apparently will not investigate either. “If there is no complaint from the victim, I think we are happy with the compromise,” said Khieu Sopheak, spokesman for the ministry.
Sbaong Sarath, the third deputy governor of Sihanoukville, who is close to the Chea Sim family, said he was handling the matter in a personal capacity. He and Lim Bun Leng—a well-known local businessman and Lim Bun’s father—had reached “a compromise about the bad-tempered children.”
This is the second shooting incident in less than two months involving the son of a senior CPP official. A nephew of Hun Sen was charged and held for discharging a weapon in public but was released while the case was being investigated.
Two people were injured in the incident.
Hun Sen at the time said there would be no exceptions for justice, even though Nhim Pisey was his nephew, the son of the prime minister’s sister and Nhim Chantara, ambassador to Burma.
“Law is law and all must be equal before it,” Hun Sen said.
For his part, Chea Sim has apologized for his son’s behavior but has not called for his arrest.
Now, at Lim Bun’s business, the only remnants of the attack are a hole in the wall where a television used to sit and a chipped table.
One waitress, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said she laid on the floor during the attack, while bullets destroyed tables and beer mugs as some 30 patrons and workers fled.
The attack was the result of an argument that started at another discotheque, witnesses said.
