Police in Preah Sihanouk province have submitted an official report to the Canadian Embassy in Phnom Penh stating that the death on Saturday of a Canadian man was the result of a traffic accident, provincial traffic police chief Ket Sopheak said Tuesday.
The death of Jiri Zivny, 43, who died on Jan 15, sparked widely divergent reports that he was the victim of either a violent crime or a road accident.
Police in Preah Sihanouk claimed that Zivny was gravely injured after his motorcycle collided with another motorcycle driven by 21-year-old Heang Lyna, who is reportedly still unconscious.
Ket Sopheak said Tuesday that police faxed their report Jan 10—the day Zivny’s accident was reported—and now consider the case closed.
“After we found there was an accident that was related to a Canadian man, the policeman quickly did the report and sent it straight away to the Canadian Embassy,” Ket Sopheak said. “This is closed.” However, an official with the Canadian Embassy, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the embassy was still awaiting more information from police, but declined to specify what details the embassy is anticipating.
The Canadian aid organization that Zivny was associated with reiterated its claim Tuesday that Zivny was beaten and robbed while on his motorcycle, and said it bases its belief on three points: that Zivny’s body had no scrapes or cuts, that his body was found only clothed in underwear, and that bank statements showed he withdrew $500 from an ATM.
“If then Jiri was not beaten and robbed, where is his wallet, camera, money, clothes, etc?” Evelyn Picklyk, the president of International Humanitarian Hope Society, wrote in an e-mail Tuesday. “He was only wearing his undershort[s] when he was found by the police in the ditch,” she added.
