Two weeks after the Kompong Cham Provincial Court released a village chief convicted of unintentionally killing a teenage girl, the victim’s father has vowed to file a complaint at the Appeals Court.
Chan Mony, 51, said Monday that he will appeal the provincial court’s decision to release Ngoun Oun, who was convicted on Sept 16 of the shooting death of 16-year-old Khoun Dina at the Chhup rubber plantation in Tbong Khmum district. Ngoun Oun was sentenced to two years in prison, but the court suspended the sentence and imposed a five-year probationary period.
The release of the convicted killer “is quite unjust for my deceased daughter,” Chan Mony said in Phnom Penh. He said he will file a complaint with the Appeals Court in the next few days.
Fearing for his personal security, Chan Mony moved his family from their Chhup village home two days before the trial and said he still fears for his family’s safety.
“I’m afraid because I don’t know who is good and who is bad,” he said.
Chan Mony, a Sam Rainsy Party activist, reportedly had been harassed by local authorities since publicly complaining about the results of the July 27 national elections.
Ngoun Oun is reportedly the nephew of Mok Kim Hong, the boss of the Chhup Rubber Plantation Co, the plantation where the teen was fatally shot while collecting scrap rubber.
The court’s decision to suspend the sentence against Ngoun Oun and release him drew stern criticism from human rights groups, which claimed that the court did not follow the rule of law.
During the trial, Ngoun Oun testified that he did not fire at the victim, who was with a group of friends. Ngoun Oun testified that the teenagers were running from him, ignoring his calls to stop, when he fired one shot into the sky and another into the ground.
He testified that the bullet that killed Khoun Dina hit her after it ricocheted.