PHNOM PENH: Cambodian rights campaigners yesterday condemned the sentencing of two men to 20 years in prison for the 2004 murder of a prominent labour leader, saying the verdict was deeply flawed.
Chea Vichea, a vocal critic of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s government, was gunned down in broad daylight at a newsstand in the capital Phnom Penh -- a killing decried by activists as an attempt to silence his labour union.
Days later, Born Samnang, now 32, and Sok Sam Oeun, 43, were arrested and jailed for 20 years each in a verdict which rights watchdogs said was based on insufficient evidence.
In 2008 the Supreme Court provisionally released the pair and ordered a retrial. But the Appeal Court yesterday ruled that there was sufficient proof of their guilt and confirmed the 20-year sentences.
Am Sam Ath, of local rights groups Licadho, said the pair appeared to be innocent victims. “Civil groups still consider the two men as the artificial killers,” he told reporters.
The pair shouted “unjust” and called for help from the king and Hun Sen as they were led from the court in handcuffs and taken to prison.
“Let me go. I am not the killer,” said Born Samnang.
Sok Sam Oeun’s wife, Neang Heng, told reporters her husband had been “full of hope” that he would be acquitted.
The pair’s lawyers immediately appealed the ruling, which rights activists said once again failed to deliver justice.
“I am very shocked and disappointed at the lack of independence of the court and at the inability of the court to provide justice in the case,” the president of the Cambodian Centre for Human Rights, Ou Virak, said.
Police alleged at the time that the two men were promised 5,000 dollars to carry out the killing. The pair have denied any involvement and said they were framed by a group of police.
Former Phnom Penh police chief Heng Pov has also said the two did not kill Chea Vichea.
AFP
