US Citizen Arrested in PM’s Capital Home

A US citizen was arrested Monday for trespassing at the Phnom Penh residential compound of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Don Penh district police officials said.

Jay Martin Jessen, 25, was arrested with a camera around 11 am after forcing his way past guards at the entrance to Hun Sen’s Sihanouk Boulevard residence opposite Independence Monument, said Uch Thorn, the district’s deputy police chief.

The unsuspecting guards eventually expelled Jessen from the grounds and he was taken into custody, said Uch Thorn. Jessen has not given a reason for the intrusion, the police official said.

“We asked him but we cannot get an answer from him [Jessen]. We cannot make a conclusion yet. We want the [US] embassy officials to work out the case,” said Uch Thorn.

He said the US citizen was also suspected of taking photographs.

Another Don Penh district police official, who asked not to be named, said the intruder was nervous and entered the residence after being followed by motorbike taxi drivers.

Hun Sen, who lives 15 km from the capital in Takhmau, was not at the residence at the time and only a handful of bodyguards were on duty when Jessen entered, police said. Residence staff are being investigated for the security lapse, they said.

Interviewed at Don Penh police station, a frazzled Jessen said he was looking for an “neutral” embassy and did not know the house was the prime minister’s.

“I didn’t know where I was at the time. And I felt in fear for my life, and that I’d been set up and involved in something that is much bigger than me, and pretty helpless,” said Jessen.

Jessen said he has been in Cambodia for three weeks and that he felt he had been followed.

US Embassy officials who visited Jessen at the Don Penh police station Monday said they didn’t know what motivated the trespass. They will visit Jessen again today.

 

Related Stories

Latest News