Three police officers were charged on Friday with the intentional killing of Phnom Penh Municipal court Judge Sok Sethamony in April 2003, court officials said.
Municipal police official Hang Vutha, his brother Municipal Criminal Section deputy police chief Hang Vuthy, and Oum Samkheng, an officer from the Interior Ministry’s penal police department, were sent to Prey Sar prison on Friday evening, court Director Chiv Keng said. “They are charged with killing the judge,” he said.
Outside the court, Hang Chheang, the father of Hang Vutha and Hang Vuthy, said the pair were being used as pawns in a dispute between more senior officials.
“The big people fight each other and only the small people get arrested,” he said. “My sons were cheated and the high-ranking persons would not take responsibility.”
He also claimed that Hang Vuthy has been tortured during his detention by the military police.
Sao Sokha, national military police commander, denied the allegation. “Nobody beat him. If they beat him, it would be illegal,” he said.
He added that the three have confessed in detention to attempting to kill him and Municipal Court Chief Prosecutor Ouk Savouth.
“The suspects admitted themselves that they wanted to assassinate us,” he said, though he did not say when this was attempted. “Let the court decide in accordance with the law,” he said.
Ouk Savouth declined comment on the reported attempted assassination, but added that the court is still investigating the three men’s activites.
Six other municipal police officers were detained on Jan 28 and sent to Prey Sar for allegedly beating a woman to death in police custody.
The arrests come several weeks after former municipal police commissioner Heng Pov was removed from his position. Some have speculated that Heng Pov’s growing stature earned him the scorn of jealous colleagues. Some of those arrested are known to be Heng Pov loyalists.
An assistant to Heng Pov said he was too busy to speak to a reporter, while National Police Commissioner Hok Lundy did not answer calls.
Contrary to rumor, Heng Pov is still in Cambodia, said Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak.
“Heng Pov has been promoted to a two-star general and is undersecretary of state for the Ministry of Interior. This appointment is still valid,” Khieu Sopheak said. He added that it is not abnormal for a case to be prolonged for several years and for arrests to then be made.
“Sometimes we don’t have any light to complete the investigation but now we have light,” he said. “We are ready to provide every cooperation with the military police and the court.”
Thun Saray, president of local rights group Adhoc, said the government may be trying to make a good impression with the arrests ahead of next month’s Consultative Group meeting of donors.
“I think it’s good for Cambodia, for the human rights situation, if they try to arrest the perpetrators of high profile killings in the city,” he said. “The problem is, we would like the regular mechanism now not only to punish a few cases but all cases.”
(Additional reporting by William Shaw)
